The People’s Republic of Brookline, which has a recent history of reluctantly approving police surveillance cameras, seems to have no such qualms about fingerprinting suspect characters such as antique dealers, taxi drivers, and used car salesmen.

Via this week’s Brookline Tab:

Town Meeting authorizes fingerprint background check for some vendors

Ice cream vendors, antique dealers, and used car salesmen are a few of the vendors who will soon have to submit to fingerprint background checks to do business in Brookline.

In a close vote on Nov. 15 Town Meeting members voted to require vendors from occupations ranging from taxi drivers to door-to-door salesmen to undergo the checks before they can operate in town. The rules mark an expansion from the current regulations, which limit police to conducting simple name checks that only cover vendor’s criminal history in Massachusetts.

Read more for the town debate, which is pure Brookline.

Suffice it to say, the hardworking staff will not be driving a Brookline cab anytime soon.