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Mobile fingerprint technology new tool for officers

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By Joanne Huist Smith, Staff Writer Updated 12:00 AM Wednesday, June 30, 2010

DAYTON — Upgrades to Montgomery County’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System will enable law enforcement to rapidly identify and create digital records of suspects in the field using new mobile technology.

The Cogent Systems Mobile ID, slightly larger than a cell phone and weighing about three ounces, will enable officers on the street to capture a print of a right index finger and a mug shot. That information will be fed into federal, state and county databases — using the hand-held device — to check for criminal records.

It’s a way to make sure known criminals who come in contact with police are correctly identified.

“An officer using one of these devices can identify an individual in one minute with this system,” said Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office and the Miami Valley Regional Crime Lab.

The county’s existing 10-year-old, AFIS system can check about 30,000 fingerprints per minute. The new system, online early this fall, searches up to a million fingerprints per minute.

“The technology we’re providing Ohio is brand new. If it’s live, it’s got to be fast,” said Isam Saleh, vice president of the Pasadena, Calif., based Cogent Systems.

The upgrade brings Montgomery County in alignment with the Ohio AFIS system. All county law enforcement agencies can continue running fingerprints through the AFIS system from their offices.

“We’ll all be getting the devices, once they’re tested,” said Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer, adding that Ohio Homeland Security law enforcement grants will be available to departments that want to buy the $2,000 units.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation has given one to the Dayton Police Department for testing. It is being used by crime scene investigators.

“We just want to make sure the technology proves worthwhile before we invest money, even grant money,” Maj. Jerry Smith said.

The Montgomery County Commission on Tuesday, June 29, approved more than $614,000 in contracts for the crime lab to purchase the upgrades and 10 of the mobile units. Funding comes from an Office of Criminal Justice Services grant. Betz said a committee will determine which police departments get those mobile units. Suburban police departments say they want more information.

Englewood, a community that sees a large transient population due to its proximity to Interstate 70 and Ohio 48, could benefit from the technology, Sgt. Mike Lang said

“If we could identify individuals in the field it would save time,” he said.

Capt. David Woolf said the Kettering Police Department also is interested.

“We’d like to take a look at them. Unfortunately there can be a lot of hidden costs,” he said.

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