The FBI says its biometric identification database is now fully operational

The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) division announced its biometric identification system, Next Generation Identification (NGI), is now in full operational capability phase.

The agency announced last month that it had digitally converted 30 million records and 83 million fingerprint cards stored at the CJIS division warehouse in Fairmont, West Virginia in preparation for the transition to the new biometric system.

The NGI is estimated to process 55,000 photos a day and is currently on track to digitize 52 million facial images by 2015.

This completes another phase of the FBI’s NGI project, expanding on its biometric identification offerings and adding new services, including Rap Back and the Interstate Photo System.

Rap Back is a new functionality that enables users to receive status notifications of criminal history reported on individuals who serve in positions of trust, such as teachers.

The new service will help law enforcement and other criminal justice officials monitor the criminal activity of those individuals who are under investigation or supervision.

The Interstate Photo System is a facial recognition tool for the law enforcement community that searches for photographs associated with criminal identities.

In February 2011, the FBI launched phase one of NGI as part of its goal to provide automated fingerprint and latent search capabilities, mobile fingerprint identification, and electronic image storage to more than 18,000 agencies and other criminal justice enterprises.

For more information about the FBI’s Next Generation Identification system, read our report “NGI: A closer look at the FBI’s billion-dollar biometric program“.

Article Topics

AFIS  |  biometric database  |  biometrics  |  criminal identity management  |  FBI  |  NGI