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| Home Front: Tech |
| Cops Test Handheld Fingerprint Reader |
| 2004-08-17 |
| Tue Aug 17, 8:14 AM ET EAGAN, Minn. - Several Minnesota police departments are field testing a handheld device that scans a suspect's fingerprint and digitally checks it against Minnesota's criminal history and fingerprint database. Police and the device maker say it's helping law enforcement officers identify suspicious persons quickly when they don't have a driver's license, but defense attorneys and civil liberties advocates are wary. The device, IBIS (for Integrated Biometric Identification System), was recently put to work when a 25-year-old St. Paul woman was stopped at the exit of Rainbow Foods in Eagan carrying baby formula that had not been purchased. She didn't have her driver's license and gave police several versions of her name. Within minutes, IBIS identified the woman, who had four warrants out for her arrest for shoplifting and providing false information to police, said Eagan police officer Jennifer Ruby. Eagan police arrested the woman on July 22 and charged her with a misdemeanor for giving false information to police. She was not charged with theft. Eagan police have just one of 130 IBIS units in the country being tested in Minnesota, California and Oregon, according to its Minnetonka-based manufacturer, Indentix Inc. The technology debuted in October 2002 in Hennepin County and Ontario, Calif., with the help of a multimillion-dollar National Institute of Justice grant, and the handheld IBIS unit debuted last summer. Today the technology is being tested in the Twin Cities in about 20 mostly west-metro police departments. The cost of the IBIS unit has dropped from $14,000 to $4,500, according to Identix. Improving cellular phone network technology means IBIS units one day could be standard-issue equipment for every officer. But at least one defense attorney cautions that IBIS, if used recklessly, could trample individuals' search-and-seizure rights and may be ripe for a legal challenge. |
| Posted by:Zenster |
| #1 #define tinfoil It’s not for every traffic stop, and it’s not mandatory unh-hunh, not yet anyway. #undefine tinfoil |
| Posted by: N Guard 2004-08-17 2:44:05 PM |