He created and led the Identification Bureau, a unit that evolved into a team of skilled investigators who used technology to fight crime.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was in the midst of a campaign to encourage each state to establish a state-level fingerprint repository to work in conjunction with their newly created national file.
The South Carolina Police Chiefs Association (SCPCA) was lobbying the state government to create an ID Bureau, and local law enforcement agencies in general supported the idea.
He was in demand as a speaker at civic clubs and scientific societies, and his Crime Fighting booth at the annual State Fair drew thousands of visitors.
That same year, with war looming, Jenkins assisted the US Army in screening out undesirable recruits at Fort Jackson, the largest military training installation in the country.
In a speech to the Columbia Rotary Club on May 14, 1946, Townsend made it clear that Jenkins’ vision for the unit was intact: “It is not a body charged with general law enforcement, and takes the initiative in no case.