Page 140 - Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS)

CURRENT ISSUES 125

for example, may not be present on a local database because the burglar was
never arrested in that locale. There may be a record in an adjoining state, with
multiple entries, but the adjoining database cannot be searched because it oper-
ates with software from another vendor, the input structure is different, or there
is no agreement allowing one state to search the other’s database. Ideally, a
latent print examiner should be able to search a hierarchy of databases from
the local database, to the state, to IAFIS, and onto other states as necessary. And
the process for those searches, while internally different as the searches move
through different systems, should appear similar to the examiner. That does
not happen in the current environment.

6.1.2.2 Lack of Integration at the Federal Level
Many people believe that agencies of the federal government such as the FBI
and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rely on either one AFIS
system or at least AFIS systems that are designed to the same specifications.
Unfortunately, the systems used by most governmental agencies are neither
interoperable nor integrated.
The FBI maintains records that adhere to the “gold standard” of ten rolled
finger images (see Fig. 6.1). These nail-to-nail images, whether taken with ink
or electronically, capture as much image detail as possible. They are used not
only for tenprint identification purposes, but are also invaluable for latent print
searches. They constitute a complete capture of the finger image surfaces.
The DHS adopted the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service iden-
tification system, the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT).
IDENT is a two-finger system that allows agents to search the database in a few
minutes, a much shorter time than the 2 hours required for an IAFIS search.
While it is unreasonable to detain every person for 2 hours at the border while
awaiting a background check, is it equally unreasonable to not press for an inte-
grated system that can produce background information on a person in just a
few minutes?
To reduce the time for checking the IAFIS database, an IDENT/IAFIS
Integration Project was established to allow agents to submit all ten tenprint
images to IAFIS and receive a response and rap sheet within 10 minutes.
The faster response is possible due to a “lights out” search technique, in
which the identification is based entirely on matching scores without human
verification.
In June 2003, DHS Secretary Tom Ridge announced that the new “US-VISIT”
(United States Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology) would
replace an earlier Department of Justice program, the National Security Entry
Exit System (NSEERS). This program requires that non-immigrant aliens from
certain foreign countries be fingerprinted and photographed at the ports of