The device will be used with the Automatic Number Plate Recognition team, who identify vehicles of interest.
If a vehicle is stopped, police will be able to identify the driver and passengers. At present about 60 per cent of drivers stopped do not give their true identity.
The device has an accuracy of 94-95% and will be used for identification purposes only.
It sends encrypted data to the national ID system using GPRS - a wireless system used by many mobile phones.
More than 6.5 million fingerprints are cross-referenced and sent back to the officer.
"It's a first to search a national database and get a response back in a couple of minutes," said Mr Wheeler.
The information on the device is encrypted and there are electronic safeguards to prevent misuse, if the machine was lost or stolen.