IBIS: Fingering the Felon

• NCJ Number: 211930
• Date Published: 2004
• Length: 2 pages
• Grant Number(s): 1996-MU-MU-K011
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Technical)
• Award: National Institute of Justice Continuation Awards

Annotation

This article describes the features and uses of IBIS (Information-Based Identification System), a mobile scanner that can check identities via fingerprints recorded in the field, and describes its use by the Ontario Police Department (California).

Abstract

Developed and produced by Identix Incorporated through a grant by the National Institute of Justice, IBIS scans a subject's finger and generates a forensic-quality fingerprint at the scene, then searches databases to return identification results within 2 to 3 minutes. The Ontario Police Department (OPD) gives all potential suspects the option of refusing to have their fingers scanned; no one refused in the first 6 months of IBIS' use. If the subject agrees, he/she places a finger on the officer's handheld scanner. The officer can also tilt the device to use a small camera to photograph the subject. OPD officers use the photos when they need to identify more than one person. Officers erase the photos and fingerprints after they complete the identification process rather than store them in a database. The OPD has plans for a voluntary fingerprint database, which will be separate from the police database, that could be used to identify people with Alzheimer's disease and other kinds of dementia, who may be lost. Other possible improvements that have been suggested are adding a database of latent fingerprints from local crime scenes, adding a facial recognition component, using a fingerprint system as a mobile booking station, identifying people entering and leaving detention facilities, and improving internal airport security.