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SAN DIEGO, Calif., July 26, 2004. ImageWare Systems, Inc., a developer of digital imaging, identification and biometric software solutions, today announced that the company has been awarded a contract from the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) to expand their use of the IWS Biometric Engine, a scalable identity management solution that is biometrically hardware and software agnostic.
The IWS Biometric Engine is the next generation ImageWare biometric platform and a core component of an organization's security infrastructure. The IWS Biometric Engine enables users to manage database populations of unlimited sizes and conduct multimodal (using specific or multiple biometric types), comparative biometric searches. These searches can be exhaustive (1:n) for identification, specific (1:1) for identity verification or investigative (x:n) for purposes such as watch lists. The IWS Biometric Engine is vendor neutral and supports the capture, search and verification of all types of biometrics including, but not limited to, civil and NIST-compliant face and fingerprint, iris, palm, signature, hand geometry, and voice.
Under the terms of the agreement, AZDPS will leverage IWS Biometric Engine to conduct facial recognition searches on a copy of all driver license images from the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) contained in the AZAFIS / MPI Subsystem. The AZAFIS / MPI Subsystem is a statewide system that houses images for law enforcement investigative purposes. Participating law enforcement agencies throughout Arizona will now have the ability to search against the MPI main criminal database, as well as the driver license database.
"The Arizona Department of Public Safety has been successful using ImageWare's law enforcement solutions to assist our investigators in solving crime," said Cyndy Pellien of the Arizona Department of Public Safety. "The ability to search the driver license database using ImageWare's biometric search engine further enhances our investigative procedures, and will assist in reducing identity fraud cases across the State. We are dedicated to protecting our citizens and confident this initiative will further improve the State's mission."
The IWS Biometric Engine also supports any biometric hardware or algorithm, which means the IWS Biometric Engine can be easily integrated with existing applications or enable users to create a wide range of biometrically-enabled applications such criminal booking, civil or criminal background checks (AFIS), watch list, visa/passport, and border control (air, land and sea).
"The State of Arizona is at the forefront of using technology to reduce crime and eliminate fraud," said Jim Miller, ImageWare's chairman and CEO. "Expanding the use of biometrics at AZDPS further confirms that biometric technology streamlines traditional, labor intensive investigative procedures, making it an ideal tool for law enforcement. Investigative searches that would take days can now be conducted in seconds."
Since 1998, law enforcement organizations across the State of Arizona, including sheriffs' offices, correction facilities and police departments, have been using ImageWare's law enforcement solutions, including its Crime Capture System (CCS), to conduct investigative searches and to share critical information with other agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and U.S. Customs.
ImageWare's CCS is a digital booking, identification and investigative solution that provides law enforcement organizations the ability to capture, search and retrieve criminal mug shots and booking information, and create photo lineups, mug books and photo IDs.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety consists of four divisions - Highway Patrol, Criminal Investigations, Agency Support and Criminal Justice Support. Together these four divisions provide an immense and extensive range of vital scientific, technical, operational and regulatory services to Arizona residents and the State's criminal justice community. The Arizona Department of Public Safety, with state headquarters in Phoenix, has offices located in more than 30 communities within Arizona's 15 counties.
For more information, see www.iwsinc.com.
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