The FBI’s next-generation biometric database has achieved full operational capability while also adding two new capabilities for law enforcement agencies, the bureau said on Monday.
The Next Generation Identification (NGI) System expands the FBI’s existing biometric identification capabilities and provides greater accuracy and matching speeds.
The FBI said that with the full operational capability, the NGI system is introducing two new services, Rap Back and the Interstate Photo System (IPS). Rap Back provides authorized users with the ability to receive ongoing status notifications of any criminal history reported on certain individuals such as school teachers. The capability also increases the effectiveness of law enforcement agencies and parole officers by providing updates on subsequent criminal activity of individuals being investigated or supervised.
The IPS system is a facial recognition service that gives the law enforcement community an image-searching capability for photographs associated with criminal identities, representing “a significant step forward for the criminal justice community in utilizing biometrics as an investigative enabler,” the FBI’s Criminal Justices Information Services Division said.
Lockheed Martin [LMT] is the prime contractor for the NGI system, which replaces the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. In addition to the Rap Back and IPS services, the new system includes 10-print fingerprint searches, the Repository for Individuals of Special Concern, which provides law enforcement authorities in the field that ability to quickly search against as few as two fingerprints of wanted persons or others of special interest, and latent fingerprint palm print capabilities.
The NGI system serves more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies and other partners in the criminal justice community.