The Anoka County (Minn.) jail has rolled out an eye-scanning identification system for inmates, an apparent first in Minnesota. All of the 11,000 or so inmates booked into the jail each year will have their irises photographed, and the images will be stored for future use. A person’s irises are more distinctive than fingerprints, and capturing high-resolution photographs of them and getting back a computer identification takes just seconds, Pacholl said. A fingerprint ID can take five to 15 minutes to carry out. The Anoka Co. sheriff saves data on all of the scanned eyes, which go into a private and highly secure national database that now stores almost 1 million scans. The department also still fingerprints inmates for inclusion in that database, which the FBI established in 1999.
An attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota said the organization has not taken a position on eye-scanning technology. Privacy concerns may be lessened by the fact that iris data are used only for identification, unlike fingerprint data, which are used for identification and as evidence.
While eye scanning has been around for more than decade, it’s still not in widespread use by law enforcement. The eye-scanning technology was added to the Anoka County sheriff’s jail-management software during an upgrade. Adding two eye-scanning stations cost $23,000. The jail is now using both iris and fingerprint matching. Inmates have their eyes scanned when they’re booked into the jail. They also are scanned to verify their identities when moved to and from court and again when they’re released.
For more details, go to www.govtech.com/dc/articles/Minnesota-Jail-Rolls-Out-Iris-Scanning-ID-System-for-Inmates.html
