The Boston Police Department yesterday began the process of fingerprinting all taxicab drivers licensed to operate within the city, according to a release on the department’s website.

The initiative “is intended to ensure the highest standards of safety for the traveling public,” the release reads.

The Boston Police Hackney Carriage Unit, which licenses all taxicabs in Boston, will use the records as an “investigative resource” to conduct even more thorough background checks on drivers. There are currently over 6,000 active licensees who will undergo fingerprinting. Drivers will be required to submit to fingerprinting as part of their annual renewal process.

The topic of fingerprinting and background checks for drivers has been contentious in recent months, as taxi companies and their associated unions have pushed for stricter regulation of transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft, which are largely free of such burdens. TNC supporters, however, have fired back that taxi drivers themselves have not yet been fingerprinted.

In the BPD statement, Commissioner William Evans praised the new step in regulating drivers.

“When the citizens of Boston get into cab, they trust that operator to get them to their destination safely every single time. Fingerprinting is another step we can take as a police department to help make sure that happens,” he said.