Nation's Fourth Largest County Law Enforcement Office Expands The Use Of IWS Law Enforcement.

SAN DIEGO -- ImageWare(R) Systems, Inc. (AMEX:IW), a leading global developer of identification, biometric and digital imaging software solutions, today announced that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) in Ariz. will broaden their use of IWS(TM) Law Enforcement to include two new jails with holding capacity of more than 2000 inmates each. MCSO is the nation's fourth largest county law enforcement office and the third largest in inmate bookings.

"The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is a fully integrated law enforcement agency committed to being the leader in establishing the standards for providing professional quality law enforcement, detention, and support services to the citizens of Maricopa County and to other criminal justice agencies," said Sgt. Artur W. Fay of Maricopa County Sheriff's Office. "We look forward to advancing our relationship with ImageWare and expanding the use of IWS Law Enforcement in the new jails."

MCSO currently uses IWS Law Enforcement to capture, store and retrieve criminal mug shots and related data and images, and share this data with the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) as part of the Statewide Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AZAFIS) /Mug Photo Interface (MPI) Subsystem.

In an earlier announcement, AZDPS selected to expand its use of ImageWare's law enforcement software to include IWS(TM) Biometric Engine to conduct facial recognition searches on a copy of all driver license images from the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) which is also contained in the AZAFIS / MPI Subsystem.

Since 1998, law enforcement organizations across the State of Arizona, including sheriffs' offices, correction facilities and police departments, have been using ImageWare's law enforcement solutions, including its IWS Law Enforcement and IWS Biometric Engine to conduct investigative searches and to share critical information with other agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), and U.S. Customs.

IWS Law Enforcement, formerly known as Crime Capture System (CCS), is a digital booking, identification and investigative solution that provides law enforcement organizations the ability to capture, search and retrieve criminal mug shots and booking information, and create photo lineups, mug books and photo ID. The IWS Biometric Engine is a scalable, agnostic omni-biometric identity management solution. The IWS Biometric Engine is available as a fully functional Web-based enrollment and identification application or as an SDK that enables it to be integrated into a variety of applications such as national ID, border control, watch list, voter registration, driver license, airport security and more.

The IWS Biometric Engine conducts 1:1 biometric searches to verify an individual's identity; 1:n searches to identify an individual within a population; and x:n investigative searches against watch lists and/or black lists. It is vendor independent and supports virtually any biometric algorithm and hardware and can manage tens of millions of individuals using standard off-the-shelf hardware.

About ImageWare Systems, Inc.

ImageWare Systems, Inc. (AMEX:IW) is the leading global developer of digital imaging, identification and biometric software solutions for the corporate, government, law enforcement, professional photography, transportation, education and healthcare markets, among others. ImageWare's secure credential and biometric product lines are used to produce ID cards, driver licenses, passports, national medical health cards, national IDs and more. The Company's law enforcement and biometric product lines provide the public safety market with booking, investigative and identification solutions that can be accessed and shared via PC, Web and wireless platforms. ImageWare's professional digital imaging product line provides professional photographers with automated, in-studio and mobile solutions to facilitate the transition from film-based photography to digital imaging. Founded in 1987, ImageWare is headquartered in San Diego, with offices in Canada, Germany and Singapore. For more information visit www.iwsinc.com.

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