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Why do police officers use fingerprint scanners?

Author: huifan   Time: 2022-12-20

In police office affairs, in order to confirm the identity of a suspect without problems, when no mobile fingerprint scanner is available, officers have to ask the suspect to go with them to a nearby police station, where a large fixed fingerprint identification machine is used to compare in a database to determine the identity of the suspect. This method of identification takes a lot of time, manpower and material resources. So people are constantly innovating, and new mobile fingerprint scanning devices have come out, which can be connected to government data via wireless, 4G, and identify the suspect on the spot, and compare the data in the background, and the confirmation time will not exceed 1 minute.
 
Fingerprint identification has been a powerful way for law enforcement agencies to confirm identifying information for centuries, and even today, fingerprint identification is a treasure trove for solving crime. Fingerprint recognition can help law enforcement agencies investigate suspects and track criminal information
why police use mobile fingerprint scanner
Equipment Introduction 
 
The mobile fingerprint scanner is composed of a fingerprint sensor plus an Android solution system. The size of the whole structure is about the same size as our current smartphone, and the size of the device will be different depending on the optional features. The fingerprint sensor can choose between capacitive and optical sensors. The two sensors can be optional according to your requirements. Android solutions can support Android 9, Android 10, Android 11. HFSECURITY's mobile fingerprint scanner can be optional optical fingerprint instrument or capacitive fingerprint instrument, and Android solutions can also have different options for your needs.
The use is also very simple: when the officer wants to confirm the identity of the suspect, he only needs to turn on the device, place the suspect's fingerprint on the fingerprint sensor, the fingerprint sensor will automatically collect and find out the characteristic points according to the fingerprint algorithm, through the transmission function of the wireless device, transfer to the government database, so that a collection to confirm the identity is completed.
 
Application level
In the past, hundreds of police departments have used this convenient mobile fingerprint scanner. In Africa, the Department of Justice and the Department of Security are purchasing mobile fingerprint scanners for distribution to police stations.
 
Mobile Fingerprint Scanners for Law Enforcement
The uniqueness of biometric technology makes it one of the most powerful and stable identification methods available. No two people in the world have secure biometrics, even identical twins, and their fingerprints, irises, and facial information are not the same. That's why law enforcement scanners that use biometrics are especially important to law enforcement agencies.
 
Rapid Identification Solutions for Law Enforcement
 
Today, we have the technology to reduce the time it takes to accurately identify suspects in the field and in-house. Mobile fingerprinting devices allow officers in the field to capture the fingerprints of officers in the field and check them against state and federal fingerprint databases in less than one minute. By using the device, officers can determine if a person has provided a false identity, has a criminal record, or is wanted for a crime. Having this information can alert officers to whether the person they are interacting with poses a danger to the officer. Other benefits to officers may be ensuring that the correct person is served with the warrant and identifying deceased or comatose individuals whose fingerprints may be in the database.  
 
In addition, ABIS (Automated Biometric Solutions) or AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) allows local law enforcement agencies to access the FBI database directly, reducing the time it takes to get feedback after the results are sent to a third-party vendor or the FBI. This can lead to faster justice for affected families and ensure public safety by getting offenders off the streets faster. 
police fingerprint scanner database
Between September 2018 and May 2020, police forces have conducted more than 126,800 scans, or about 6,000 per month. Figures obtained from Freedom of Information requests show a dramatic increase in the use of fingerprint scans during the pandemic and the disproportionate targeting of minorities in the use of these devices.
 
Strategic mobile devices, first tried in February 2018, are small electronic scanners that clip onto smartphones and let police officers take a person's fingerprints at a higher resolution than the sensors built into the phone. They were introduced to help police officers check the identity of unknown people and can get results in as little as 60 seconds. Once a person's fingerprint is scanned, it is checked against two government databases.
Fingerprint Identification Device Manufacturer
 
 
On-the-street identification
There may be several reasons why a law enforcement officer needs to confirm someone's identity on the street. She may find a person suspicious; there may have been a recent incident in the neighborhood; officers have been put on high alert due to the possibility of any crime or terrorist incident, etc. Whatever the reason, identification begins by asking questions such as name, place of residence, reason for being there, etc. This gives the officer enough time to determine the person and the need to verify the information provided.
 
Now, the officers leave the office with the computer and biometric scanner and essentially ask for ID to check the validity of the information provided, and here is where things can go very wrong. The ID presented could be a fake ID that looks real. If it is fake, but the officer believes it, she may let the suspect go, leading to a mistake that could be catastrophic in time to come.
In today's scenario, where stolen and manipulated IDs have become a common occurrence, identity verification has become an important task for law enforcement officers, especially when they are in the field. In the office, they can use a variety of resources and technology to figure out if an ID is a forgery, but in the field, they must rely on their own skills and abilities. Unfortunately, fraudsters have also become skilled at manipulating ID cards. With the help of technology, authentic-looking ID cards can be easily printed out.
 
Verifying identity with ID cards: A hit-and-miss game
In addition to dealing with fake IDs, law enforcement officers must deal with different types of people when verifying their surroundings and environmental conditions. Whether it's day, night, rain or snow, they must work with the same efficiency. They must check people on foot and in vehicles. They must deal with different lighting conditions, which can have an impact on their ability to do so. These different factors can certainly affect the efficiency of identity verification. For example, attention to detail can be more difficult when verifying a printed ID card on a rainy day.
 
For law enforcement field officers, identity verification has been an unsuccessful game when it comes to printed ID cards. If officers are not satisfied with the information and identity claims, they have to bring the suspect into the office for further investigation, which takes them out of their area and consumes their time.
 
Relying solely on printed IDs and making decisions based on the IDs presented (which may be manipulated, stolen or completely forged) can lead to serious consequences, such as the escape of criminals or an avoidable terrorist incident. The photos on printed ID cards are usually of mediocre quality; sometimes the photos are so poor that it is difficult to identify their true owners.
 
Another problem is that people may not always carry their ID card unless they know they need it for some purpose (such as boarding an airplane). Relying on ID-based identification and expecting people to always have it with them will lead to unnecessary hassles, for both the person and the law enforcement officer.
 
Mobile biometric scanners for law enforcement are here
 
Mobile biometrics needs no introduction; it's everywhere. It's already showing its mettle on smartphones, tablets and mobile computers. It has become an essential feature without which the spec sheet of today's gadgets would seem incomplete. Tangled up with passwords and pattern locks, mobile biometrics like fingerprint and face unlock have emerged like magic and taken the world by storm. We're not done yet, and biometrics on the next generation of smartphones will take this trend to new heights.
 
Technology companies and online service providers are already experimenting with various biometrics on cell phones. People can use their facial fingerprints to verify payments, shop online and secure their phones. Since these devices have the ability to identify individuals with biometric identifiers, this opens up the opportunity to use them to verify the identity of others. Authentication of individuals is not too demanding for today's smartphones if we have the right applications and secure access to biometric databases. However, the fingerprint scanners used on smartphones do not provide law enforcement level fingerprint processing capabilities because they rely on a portion of the user's fingerprint.
 
To solve this problem, there are two ways to go
Use an external fingerprint mobile ID scanner on a smartphone
An external fingerprint scanner that meets law enforcement standards can be used for this purpose. It can be a portable device connected by a wire, or it can be a large smartphone case that also has a fingerprint scanner inside. In either case, this external scanner is supported by an app on the smartphone that has access to a law enforcement database that stores all identity data. With just a quick fingerprint or facial scan, law enforcement officers can verify the claimed identity in the most efficient and secure way possible.
 
Portable biometric scanners designed specifically for law enforcement
Often, smartphones are designed with everyone in mind, not for a specific application or user group. Law enforcement applications have their own set of challenges, and their identity verification tools must offer more than just robust biometric capabilities. Today's smartphones have enough features and processing power to get through a normal day in a law enforcement application, but they can't be called the ideal device for these applications. Here we are talking about a usage scenario with a variety of challenges, including security, hostile environments, violent subjects and reluctant cooperators.
 
Portable fingerprint identification solutions should be rugged devices that can withstand abuse and rough handling. In law enforcement operations, officers may have to deal with hostile environments, situations and personnel. The ideal device should be waterproof, dustproof (e.g., IP67/68 tested), and have passed military-grade environmental tests for temperature, pressure, and other extreme conditions.
 
Portable police fingerprint scanners in real-world applications
 
Mobile biometrics, which once seemed like science fiction, is now a common technology. Identity verification using portable fingerprint scanners is on the same line. The devices and verification methods discussed above are already seeing the light of day in many parts of the world. Law enforcement agencies understand that printed ID cards are no longer trustworthy proof of identity. They can be easily manipulated or forged by fraudsters. The problem is not limited to ID cards; people even manipulate security documents, such as passports, to hide their identities when crossing international borders. All of these shortcomings related to ID cards, documents and other possession or knowledge-based identification methods pave the way for efforts in biometric identity verification.
 
Conclusion
Verifying the identity of suspects while on duty in the field has always been a problem for police and law enforcement officers. These suspects may attempt to falsify their identities by passing incorrect information, and may even present forged or altered IDs. In the offices of law enforcement agencies, officers have all the technological advantages, so it's easy to catch people by identification. But on the street, it's a different story. Despite all the technological advantages in the office, they have to rely on manual methods to verify identity in the field. These manual methods included verifying ID cards or similar documents to confirm the person's or suspect's claim of identity.