A Calgary homeless shelter is testing a new security system that scans clients' fingerprints. (Peter Akman/CBC)

A Calgary shelter is scanning the fingerprints of its homeless clients, citing problems with gang members and drug dealers sneaking into the facility.

Dermot Baldwin, head of the Calgary Drop-In Centre, said people who have been barred from the shelter use fake identification to get in.

The homeless shelter is testing a new $150,000 security system that scans clients' fingerprints, and Baldwin said he expects it will be fully up and running in a few weeks.

The system is not a violation of privacy, Baldwin said. The information the scanner takes is for the centre's use only and will not be passed on to anyone else.

"This is a private system, internal to us. Out of 187 people, we had four people that wanted to know more about it, with one serious objection," he said.

Fingerprinting treats people like criminals, says lawyer

Brian Edy, a civil rights lawyer, suggested that the centre rely on metal detectors or install lockers for people to leave their belongings outside as alternatives to the "intrusive" fingerprinting.

"We can give that helping hand without requiring fingerprints before you get a bowl of soup," he said on CBC Radio's The Homestretch on Thursday.

"But they should not be treating everyone who goes to the centre as if they're potentially a criminal. After all, these are Albertans, these are Canadians who have really done nothing wrong except be poor."

Edy said he's worried the fingerprinting policy might discourage homeless people from seeking shelter in frigid weather.

The shelter started looking into beefing up security after a 2007 survey of its clients showed they fear for their safety.

A survey of about 300 clients showed three-quarters of them have been victims of crime, often robbery and assaults that were committed outside the shelter by strangers. But the same number also said they did not feel any safer inside the centre.