Arizona police deploy iris scanners and facial biometrics to identify inmates
Local police departments in Arizona have begun using facial biometrics and iris scanning technology to identify inmates and registered sex offenders; officers with the Pinal County Sheriff’s department have entered roughly 1,500 inmates and 700 sex offenders into a national database to better identify, register, and track inmates; the scans come as part of a broader effort led by the National Sheriff’s Association (NSA) and the U.S. Justice Department; beginning in 2009, the Justice Department awarded $500,000 to help roughly forty-five law enforcement agencies throughout the United States to purchase iris scanners from BI2 Technologies
Local police departments in Arizona have begun using facial biometrics and iris scanning technology to identify inmates and registered sex offenders.
Officers with the Pinal County Sheriff’s department have entered roughly 1,500 inmates and 700 sex offenders into a national database to better identify, register, and track inmates.
“If we’re about to release somebody, we can’t possibly know each and every person. So [an iris scan] ensures with the highest degree of accuracy who we’re releasing,” said Sheriff Paul Babeu.
The scans come as part of a broader effort led by the National Sheriff’s Association and the U.S. Justice Department. Beginning in 2009, the Justice Department awarded $500,000 to help roughly forty-five law enforcement agencies throughout the United States to purchase iris scanners from BI2 Technologies, a Massachusetts based biometric security firm.
The Pinal County Sheriff’s Department received $30,000 which it used to purchase three scanners for use in its jails and one to capture data from sex offenders.
According to Sean Mullin, the president and CEO of BI2 Technologies, the national database currently holds information on over 300,000 inmates and more than 100,000 sex offenders. Mullin added that the database has continued to expand as more law enforcement agencies purchase the technology and submit data.
Babeu hopes that within three months Pinal County sheriffs will begin using handheld devices that can help reduce the time it takes to determine the identity of an arrested person without documentation to mere seconds. Currently officers have to wait several hours for fingerprints to be processed.
“From an officer-safety perspective, to find out who we are dealing with, this literally leapfrogged us ahead in the ability of law enforcement to best protect our community,” Babeu said.
The program has also benefitted nearby local police departments by granting them access to the use of biometric iris scanners.
For instance, Maricopa County law enforcement agencies have access to facial-recognition software and other biometric scanners through the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center.
Jay Davies, a Peoria police spokesman, said, “We have actually only submitted photos a handful of times, and thus far we have not had a successful hit/identification. However, this is more about the quality of photos we obtain or whether the subject is in the database than it is about the technology itself. Having this capability will be an extremely valuable tool for law enforcement moving forward.”
