Biometrics, surveillance towers on Florida’s $46M immigration enforcement shopping list

Florida’s government has approved a $46 million budget to reimburse law enforcement agencies for purchases of equipment and for building up their detention capacity, as the U.S. state ramps up arrests of migrants. The funding will cover both high-tech equipment, such as iris biometrics scanners, body cameras, license plate readers and surveillance towers, and low-tech supplies such as prison beds and body armor.

The money is part of a larger $250 million fund earmarked by the Florida Legislature and supported by Governor Ron DeSantis. An ally of President Donald Trump, DeSantis has recently directed Florida law enforcement to enter into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), allowing them to perform “functions of immigration enforcement.”

Equipment expenses make up over half ($27.8 million) of the total reimbursements approved by the Florida Cabinet on Tuesday. A total of 18 agencies across 16 countries have had their grant applications approved by the Florida Cabinet, with at least 8 counties planning to use the funding for AI-based products.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office has requested more than half a million dollars for a rapid ID system, a rapid DNA testing machine and an iris biometric system. In the context of biometric equipment requests, a “rapid ID” system likely denotes an automated biometric identification system (ABIS).

“This technology supports identification of criminal aliens in a matter of seconds by utilizing the most anatomically unique biometric, the iris,” says the county’s submission. “This system will increase the speed of identifying aliens by comparison with a national database.”

The Lee County Sheriff’s Office will receive $4.3 million for a two-year contract for body cameras equipped with AI translation technology, the Florida Phoenix reports.

The body cameras are made by Axon Enterprise, the U.S. company behind Taser electroshock weapons, and have also been used by law enforcement in Canada. Aside from body cameras, Lee County requested $1 million to implement an AI policing system called Peregrine and $158,000 for two mobile surveillance towers.

Flagler County Sheriff’s Office is also seeking $198,000 for 60 rapid ID devices, meaning scanners connecting to biometric systems. Several Florida counties use the Inmate Recognition and Identification System (IRIS) made by BI2 Technologies. Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office wants 117 rapid ID devices, though 50 of them have already been acquired at a cost of $169,000.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  criminal ID  |  Florida  |  immigration  |  iris biometrics  |  law enforcement  |  procurement  |  United States