MINNETONKA, Minn. -- Identix Incorporated, a leading multi-biometric security technology company, announced today that it has received final certification from the California Department of Justice (Cal DOJ) for the Identix TouchPrint PRO Full Hand Scanner, the only commercially available forensic-quality full hand scanner. This certification by Cal DOJ is in addition to FBI Appendix F Certification Identix received for the TouchPrint PRO last year.
Identix also said that Cal DOJ has placed an order, valued in excess of $600,000, for 21 TouchPrint PRO units and software upgrades to existing hardware previously supplied by Identix for the State's Department of Corrections live scan network. The first installment of eight units is expected to be shipped and installed by the end of March . The remaining units are expected to be shipped and installed in the company's fiscal fourth quarter ending June 30, . Cal DOJ currently has more than 600 Identix live scan systems deployed throughout California.
The TouchPrint PRO Full Hand live scan imager captures a continuous scan at 1,000 dots per inch, from the carpal crease to the fingertips, in conformance with International Association for Identification (IAI) standards. A principal reason for recommending that the whole hand be live imaged, instead of just the palm portion, is to ensure that the palm portion of the hand can be matched to a particular human subject through the fingertip ridge information.
Adding full hand imaging capabilities is important because forensic examiners report that approximately one-third of all crime scene "latent" prints are not from fingertips, but are from other parts of the human hand. Although these images are rich in friction ridge detail, most of them go unmatched because of the relatively small database of on-file hand image exemplars that have been collected from arrested subjects. Thus, many forensic examiners believe that with the information currently available to investigators, many crimes go unsolved as a result of the inability to match the crime scene hand images with on-file images from known arrestees.
Dr. Joseph J. Atick, Identix president and CEO stated, "Because of its curved surface design, the TouchPrint PRO Full Hand Scanner has the ability to get a comprehensive scan of the entire hand, including the center region of the palm, which even traditional flat-bed palm live scan systems are not easily equipped to do. Coupled with our patented Moisture Discriminating Optics technology, this is a product that backs our reputation of innovation and technological leadership. But its significance is even greater for law enforcement -- we believe the TouchPrint PRO is a ground- breaking product that has the potential to positively impact the way forensic investigations are handled."
Louise Knedel, assistant bureau chief for the California Department of Justice, stated, "We embrace new technologies, such as Identix' Full Hand Scanner, that can help us to be more effective and more efficient in our law enforcement efforts. This product provides us with the type of evidence we often seek to build our cases, as frequently at crime scenes we are only working with a portion of a handprint rather than the fingertips. Additionally, we believe that this product may provide better exemplars than those resulting from a scanned hard card, which would give us a better ability to match non-fingerprint exemplars to records of known offenders."
Atick added, "Identix is proud to be the only company to provide full hand imaging capability. We continually seek ways to respond to the needs of our customers -- which make up the largest installed based of live scan systems across the United States. Our many strong, long-standing relationships in the law enforcement arena include the California Department of Justice and we look forward to continuing to support their technology roadmaps while meeting the growing need for full hand imaging technology throughout the entire law enforcement community."
Source: Identix Incorporated
