Biometrics expert honored for work in assisting with murder investigation

According to a report by MSUToday, Anil Jain, a University Distinguished Professor of computer science and engineering at Michigan State University, has been honored by the Lansing Police Department (LPD) and the Michigan State University Police Department (MSUPD) for his work assisting with a murder investigation in 2016.

Jain and two members of his biometrics team, post-doctoral student Kai Cao and recently graduated doctoral student Sunpreet Arora, were awarded a Civilian Citation by the LPD “for meritorious actions which significantly aided in the protection of life,” and the Meritorious Service Award from the MSUPD for “assistance provided to the Digital Forensics and Computer Crimes Unit.”

The police departments approached Jain’s biometrics team last year for help to unlock a murder victim’s cell phone in an effort to obtain evidence. Jain’s team used a specially created computer program to enhance the victim’s fingerprints and then printed 2-D fingerprints with conductive ink to create an electrical circuit which simulates a live finger.

Last month at ID4Africa, Jain announced study results which showed that fingerprints can be used to effectively verify the identity of children enrolled as young as six months of age.

Article Topics

Anil Jain  |  biometrics  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  law enforcement