Lockheed Martin [LMT] earlier this month delivered the latest capability for the FBI’s next-generation biometric database, providing the agency with improvements in its ability to search latent fingerprints and a new palm print identification system.
The Next Generation Identification (NGI) now includes 10-print fingerprint searches, the Repository for Individuals of Special Concern, which provides law enforcement authorities in the field the ability to quickly search against as few as two fingerprints of wanted persons or others of special interest, and the latent fingerprint and new palm print capabilities.
NGI is an advance beyond the previous Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System biometric search and matching system as it provides a larger database, more accuracy, new capabilities and faster response times.
The company said yesterday that the new National Palm Print System contains latent palm prints that can now be searched on nationwide basis for the first time and in a matter of minutes. The company said that palm prints make up about one-third of all latent prints.
MorphoTrak, a business unit of France’s Safran Group, is providing the biometric matching algorithms and search capability to Lockheed Martin under Increment 3 of the NGI program. Lockheed Martin also said that Increment 3 includes improvements that extend the breadth of searches, including more efficient records management using the case management capabilities provided by MorphoTrak combined with Lockheed Martin software to process all hand friction ridge areas and prints on file from each arrest cycle.
Lockheed Martin said the technology it is delivering under Increment 3 is three times more effective in matching latent fingerprints.