Louisiana Implements Most Advanced Criminal Justice Information System in U.S. History.

BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 3, 1999--

Complete Digital Justice Solution Features

Real-Time Identification to Improve Public Safety

The State of Louisiana controls the most advanced criminal justice information system in U.S. history.

The nation's first statewide real-time identification and records system was designed by Printrak International Inc. (Nasdaq:AFIS) of Anaheim, Calif., the leader in fingerprint biometrics technology, which partnered with IBM and UNISYS as subcontractors to win the $10 million contract.

The Louisiana system marks the first time in history that automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS), fingerprint livescan (inkless), computerized criminal history (CCH), mugshot and document storage/retrieval subsystems have been seamlessly integrated into a statewide network.

Printrak is the only vendor in the marketplace today that offers such a unified and comprehensive public safety solution, called The Digital Justice Solution(TM).

"Approximately 80 percent of all criminal bookings are now done with AFIS technology," said Captain Randy Johnson, Louisiana State Police Technical Support Services. "The Louisiana AFIS system is a very valuable tool that has empowered the state to more effectively process criminal suspects and is becoming the cornerstone of our criminal justice information system."

Printrak's leading-edge, real-time identification provides an added level of safety for law enforcement officers and the community at large. When the first fingerprint matching technology was introduced by Printrak, AFIS technology was based on batch processing and real-time identification responses to booking officers were not possible.

"Prior to 1994, Louisiana had one of the longest processing cycles in the country for inputting fingerprint records into a computer database to enable electronic matching," said Daniel J. Driscoll, president, Printrak Digital Justice Division. "A few short years later, the state is literally the leader in fighting crime and improving public safety for all its citizens through AFIS technology."

A statewide telecommunications network now links more than 80 law enforcement agencies to the integrated criminal history and image processing system (fingerprints, mugshots and documents) for positive identification of arrestees in an average of about 15 minutes.

Before Printrak introduced its real-time technology, this process could take several hours, sometimes days and because criminals could use aliases, they might escape detection. Even today, only states like Louisiana using Printrak's technology are able to provide real-time responses.

Latent prints lifted from crime scenes can now be identified in less than 15 minutes and, for the first time, it is a routine procedure to electronically compare latent prints to all 725,000 fingerprint records on file in the Louisiana state system.

Johnson describes the power of this system with an example from the Louisiana State Police Bureau of Criminal Identification. "They made a latent hit on a homicide from a bloody print left on a cigarette butt at the crime scene, where there were only eight points of identification entered for the search of the database," he said. "The suspect was the number-two candidate on the respondent list."

State System Integrates Leading-Edge Crime-Solving Technologies

Printrak, the prime contractor, provides the AFIS with integrated fingerprint livescan and mugshot capture. IBM provides the network control and document archive equipment, while UNISYS designed the interface between the AFIS and the existing CCH system.

The network is operated by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections, a unit of the Louisiana State Police, on behalf of the Louisiana law enforcement community. Centralized databases in Baton Rouge currently store up to 1 million fingerprint (10-print) records, 1.5 million CCH records and 400,000 mugshots. An additional 1 million 10-print records are archived as pages in the document imaging system.

According to Johnson, in the short time that the Printrak system has been in place, the Baton Rouge City Police latent fingerprint section has been enjoying a record hit rate. In fact, he relates that numerous IDs have been made from the state's mugshot database, including some from only tattoo information.

Incoming messages from the network are routed to three subsystems for identification, fingerprint matching, CCH and/or mugshot server, depending on the request. A transaction processor tracks, stores and controls all system activities.

The distributed network consists of six full-function AFIS hubs, where fingerprints are processed prior to database searches and 89 Printrak LiveScan fingerprint stations at city and parish booking locations throughout the state. Another 10 livescan units are installed at state correctional facilities. Each hub consists of four types of Printrak workstations:

     -- Input station to scan fingerprint cards and latent prints, to
        perform quality control and to launch searches to the central
        site.
     -- Latent station to encode latent fingerprints and launch latent
        searches to the central site.
     -- Verification station to review quality of incoming records and
        verify results of fingerprint searches.
     -- Mugshot station to capture digital images and descriptors of
        suspects to create electronic "line-ups" used by
        investigators.

Not all hubs are configured exactly alike, but in addition to 99 livescan units, there are seven input stations, nine verification stations, 19 latent stations and 28 mugshot stations in the network.

The majority of transactions originate at remote livescan stations where suspects are booked. A suspect's demographic and charge information is entered along with fingerprint images and mugshot during the pre-booking process.

This information is transmitted to an AFIS hub where fingerprint specialists prepare it for database searches. The system will support over 3,000 daily livescan transactions.

The record is then forwarded to the central site where it is compared to all AFIS records in the central database. When a matching print is found, the search provides an identification number that is used to obtain criminal history information from the CCH database. Any "hits" from the fingerprint match are returned to the hub for review by a fingerprint specialist, before transmitting to the booking site.

If the person in question exists in the CCH database, "rap" sheet information is sent to a printer at the booking site. In about 15 minutes, booking officers have information that previously took hours or days to acquire.

Printrak's real-time AFIS eliminates the possibility of a suspect escaping detection of a prior record by using a false name. A CCH on its own can only perform a name search, which may fail if the suspect uses an alias. The link between AFIS and CCH updates both databases from a single transaction.

The document image capture and retrieval subsystem (DICRS) stores legacy 10-print fingerprint records of lesser quality than required for an automatic search and match operation. When there are no hits from an AFIS search, the DICRS database may be searched by name for retrieval of a 10-print card for comparison.

All livescan records, including fingerprint, mugshot and demographic data, are stored on the DICRS, providing for paperless operation. Law enforcement agencies, which previously would have requested fingerprint cards, now have remote electronic access to all individual arrest data.

Another option available to law enforcement officers occurs when a known person is arrested. By entering thumbprints only and using AFIS to compare them with a single record, police accelerate identify confirmation and obtain a CCH rap sheet in less than five minutes.

Company Information

Printrak International (http://www.printrakinternational.com) is a leading worldwide supplier of integrated identification and information systems used in public safety applications and civil applications such as national I.D. programs.

In the public safety sector, Printrak's Digital Justice Solution(TM) provides networked fingerprint, photo imaging, computer-aided dispatch and automated records management systems.

Printrak's civil systems prevent identity fraud and provide the identification infrastructure required for commercial fingerprint biometric applications. The company's systems serve approximately 700 national, state, county and municipal agencies in 36 countries.