NEC's Automated Palmprint System Identifies Hit and Run Suspect for San Francisco Police Department.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 18, 2001

"Within 5 Minutes, Suspect is Identified From Latent Palmprint

Left At The Crime Scene" - SFPD 

NEC Technologies, Inc., a world leader in the development and implementation of Automated Fingerprint Identification Systems (AFIS), announced today that the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) generated a very important investigative lead since acquiring an NEC Automated Palmprint Identification System.

Since the NEC Palmprint Identification System became operational on July 16, 2001, the San Francisco Police Department has identified a suspect in a hit and run case. According to Inspector Mike Gaynor of the San Francisco Police Department, "This was only the 4th latent palm entered into our recently procured palmprint system. The case was a vehicular `hit and run' case that just recently occurred. A latent palm print taken from the door area of a stolen car found at the crime scene was searched as the Hypothenar area of the left hand. The search took only 5 minutes to identify a suspect who had several prior arrests. Without the NEC Palm AFIS system this case would still remain unsolved."

The San Francisco Police Department purchased the automated palmprint identification system in April 2001. Prior to this system, palmprint matching was rarely used because investigators had to manually compare latent prints against prints sitting in a repository, which was very time and labor intensive. This new automated system currently holds over 200,000 converted subjects with a design size of 350,000 subjects. The automated palmprint system can identify a suspect in minutes, thereby, empowering investigators to make quick identifications and arrests.

Palm prints make up approximately 30 percent of the prints taken from crime scenes. With the introduction of an automated palm print identification technology, law enforcement agencies around the globe are now able to expand their search capabilities to include searching latent palm prints. The NEC Automated Palmprint System provides agencies with a higher level of technology that delivers an accurate solution for otherwise "impossible" cases. Moreover, the investment in this revolutionary technology will, ultimately, assist agencies in solving crime within the community.

NEC's Technologies' superior matching technology allows investigators to process any latent palmprint -- a palmprint found at a crime scene -- with the same ease as NEC's world renowned automated fingerprint identification systems. The result is rapid identification, capture, and incarceration of perpetrators -- significantly improving public safety.

As news of the palmprint hit made by the SFPD broke, Tony Doonan, Vice President, NEC Technologies' AFIS Division stated, "The success experienced by San Francisco is a perfect example of the increasingly important role technology is playing in law enforcement today. We are proud to be part of law enforcement efforts to reduce crime throughout the west".

NEC Technologies' AFIS Division

NEC Technologies' AFIS Division is recognized as an industry leader in biometrics technologies having developed some of the first and finest automated methods of identifying people by their fingerprint and palmprint characteristics. NEC Technologies AFIS Division provides identification solutions for law enforcement, government, and commercial applications requiring network security. Headquartered in Gold River, California, NEC Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of NEC Corporation, is a leading manufacturer of computer peripherals and other technology products for the North American market. Information on NEC AFIS and its products can be obtained by calling 800/777-AFIS or on the web at http://www.nectech.com/afis.