St Tammany deputies armed with CSI technology

Iris Scanning

See also: FBI Hopes To Launch Iris-Scan Database To Track Criminals.

10-10-2012 Louisiana:

With technology seen only on television crime dramas until a few years ago, the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office is now using electronic iris scanning to help identify sex offenders and jail inmates. Sheriff Jack Strain on Wednesday unveiled new high definition cameras, software and "souped-up smart phones" that help deputies identify sex offenders and monitor inmate traffic at the parish jail. The sheriff's office is the first in the state to use the iris scanning identification system, Strain said.

"We are excited here at the sheriff's office with what we have done with this technology," Strain said at a news conference Wednesday morning. "This technology was only seen on TV crime shows not that long ago."

The sheriff's office has partnered with BI 2 Technologies of Plymouth, Mass., to install iris scanning devices in its sex offender registry office and in the parish jail in Covington. The sheriff's office has also invested in three mobile devices that deputies can use to perform iris scanning in the field.

The devices allow for positive identification of a person through electronic analysis of the iris, the single most unique feature visible on the human body. During an initial baseline scan, high resolution cameras capture short videos of the eyeball, then process that video to extract certain identifiable characteristics, which are then stored in a national database. After the baseline scan, the person's identity can be verified in seconds during subsequent scans, according to the sheriff's office.

The technology provides a much faster method of positive identification than fingerprinting. Since the spring, every person booked into the parish jail has undergone an iris scan. Nearly 4,500 inmates have been scanned thus far, Warden Gregory Longino said. The scans are important in the release process, ensuring that the inmate being turned loose is the right person.

Strain said the scanning system works in conjunction with the parish's sex offender database by confirming the identity of sex offenders when they report for periodic, state-mandated registration with the sheriff's office. In St. Tammany, deputies go beyond state requirements by making quarterly checks of sex offenders at their homes to confirm that they still live there. The three mobile devices, which look like glorified smart phones, allow deputies to immediately confirm the identity of a sex offender, making it impossible for someone else to pretend to be the offender in their absence.

The mobile devices also provide high-speed fingerprint identification that has received certification from the FBI.

The sheriff's office spent about $25,000 on the technology. Strain said state money allocated to the parish from the state Attorney General's Office to monitor sex offenders was used to make the purchase.

Sean Mullin, president and CEO of BI 2 Technologies, lauded St. Tammany for its cutting-edge approach to law enforcement. The parish's use of such technology "is a new model for the nation," he said.

Strain said registering and tracking sex offenders "is not a job to be taken lightly." ..Source.. by Kim Chatelain, Staff Writer