Parents can sleep a little better now that they were provided with fingerprints of their children taken by law enforcement officials.

Kindergartners in the Pearl River County School District were fingerprinted Wednesday morning by the district’s School Resource officers and two officers from the Picayune Police Department.

Pearl River Central School Resource Interim Chief Brandon Herrin said this process will be done yearly in an effort to provide parents with their child’s fingerprints. Each child’s fingerprint card was sent home to their parents. Copies of the fingerprints taken that day will not be retained by any law enforcement department because the children are minors. However, copies could be retained at a law enforcement office if the parents give their consent, Herrin said.

Parents are asked to keep the cards in a safe place for use in an emergency.

“It’s more or less for parents to keep in their file cabinet in case the kids come up missing,” Herrin said.

Assisting in the effort were Ginger Bennett and Capt. Theresa Milar both with the Picayune Police Department.

School Resource Officer Cesar Jones said he would like to thank the Picayune Police Department along with Bennett and Milar for their assistance in the program.