ICE to award contract to field more NEC fingerprint capture devices

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) intends to award a firm fixed price delivery order under the First Source II contract to Cincinnati, Ohio-based Government Acquisition Inc. for procurement of NEC Corporation of America’s NeoScan 45 FAP Multiple Fingerprint Reader biometric capture devices.

Government Acquisition Inc. is an approved authorized reseller of the readers.

The estimated $160,000 contract is being made by ICE’s Office of Acquisition Management on behalf of the Office of Enforcement and Removal Operation’s (ERO) Fugitive Operations Division.

ICE said NEC is the “only company that provides this biometric device. Other products were considered but found unsuitable for compatibility with the ICE IT infrastructure. The IT systems in their current state can utilize this device without any system modifications.”

“Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services ordered are unique or highly specialized,” ICE said.

The NeoScan 45 supports multiple communication protocols including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. As such, the device is compatible with both Apple iOS and Android operating systems, including the latest Apple and Samsung smartphone and tablet models. Equipped with a single and dual plain and roll fingerprint capture sensor, NeoScan 45 is compliant with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation Image Quality Specification Appendix F standards. Coupled to NEC’s Smart ID biometric identification solution, NeoScan 45 adheres to US National Institute of Standards and Technology and the FBI’s Electronic Biometric Transmission Specification transmission standards in support of exchanging biometric data.

ICE requires that that any EAGLE linked biometric reader works with the iPhone iOS format and supports changes to the iOS / iPhone beginning with the iPhone model 4S and upgrades.

In 2013, a joint venture took place within ICE to develop a mobile biometric platform. Involving Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and ERO, The project was to build an enterprise-wide platform which was called EAGLE Direct Identification Environment (EDDIE), which has now been in use for a decade.

EDDIE is a mobile application that allows agents and officers in the field to quickly be able to identify persons encountered during immigration and criminal law enforcement investigations and operations. EDDIE was implemented in 2014 on the NEC NeoScan 45 FAP Multiple Fingerprint Reader, and there have been multiple procurements of the reader from Government Acquisition Inc. since the project’s inception.

The device collects 2 or 10 fingerprints and a snapshot photo.

“Procuring any other device will require the entire enterprise infrastructure to be changed,” ICE said.

EAGLE is part of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Enforcement Integrated Database (EID), which is a shared common database repository used by several DHS law enforcement and homeland security applications. EID stores and maintains information related to the investigation, arrest, booking, detention, and removal of persons encountered during immigration and criminal law enforcement investigations and operations conducted by ICE, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, and Customs and Border Protection.

ICE said “law enforcement (LE) field level activities have repeatedly shown that in a high percentage of instances, individuals stopped and questioned are carrying no identification, carrying false identification, or provide false names and dates of birth which results in negative LE checks,” ICE explained. “The utilization of fingerprint biometrics checks to assist in identifying individuals significantly eliminates risk when previous on-line records are available.”

ICE said the technical design of the EAGLE EDDIE systems APP enhancement establishes “functionality supporting the biometrics capture of fingerprints during field interviews situations” which are “cross checked against available records without dependency on any specific type of smartphone device, along with eliminating the need to physically connect a scanning device to a smartphone.”

ICE said the functionality of the system “ensure[s] that individuals stopped and questioned by ICE LE officers can be properly identified and quickly checked for a previous record through fingerprint biometrics to assist in supporting proper identification.”

The system is being used to identify wanted subjects; known suspected terrorists; individuals arrested for violations of criminal law by ICE (processed through EAGLE); previously removed aliens; and aliens who have lawfully entered the US.

The EAGLE EDDIE APP provides “an efficient cost-effective enhanced technical tool” that’s designed to allow ICE LE officers the ability to submit two-fingerprint biometrics capture of an unknown individual during field interviews though their government issued smartphone using the Cogent Blue Check device which connects via Bluetooth technology, which This provides a reasonable cost-effective return on investment based on economic, capability, and operational efficiency factors,” ICE explained.

The biometric fingerprints taken in the field are searched against DHS’s Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) database managed by the Office of Biometrics Information Management. IDENT is the primary DHS biometric repository, and the largest biometric repository in the US government.

ICE said, “extensive research on alternatives to the EDDIE application and Cogent Blue Check 2 model BC2A device have been conducted resulting in identification” of the NEC devices “as the best possible solution option for ICE, which included research and reviews of products and applications currently deployed to other US federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.”

ICE said its business and technical subject matter experts had reviewed numerous fingerprint biometric capture products based on a specific requirements, but that none of them met all the requirements.

ICE further stated that if the sole source award isn’t “approved, ICEs ability to rapidly identify individuals through fingerprint biometrics will remain severely impacted” and “that a wanted individual and/or individual with a criminal record who could be detained for violations of law enforced by ICE would remain at large due to inability to properly identify the subject in the field interview process.”

“The program office remains committed to actively conducting ongoing market research for similar products to foster competition and identify viable alternatives,” ICE said, adding that “it is the intent of ICE to strategically transition from the current biometric device to an open-source solution that ensures seamless compatibility with the evolving ICE IT infrastructure. At present, the existing IT systems are fully optimized to utilize” NEC’s biometric product “without requiring any modifications, thereby maintaining operational continuity and efficiency while future solutions are explored and evaluated.”

Article Topics

biometrics  |  border security  |  criminal ID  |  fingerprint biometrics  |  government purchasing  |  ICE  |  NEC  |  NECAM  |  U.S. Government