New Portable Fingerprint Scanners

*Source: Law Enforcement Today

 

Let’s face it.  Times are tough and getting new technology on the street for the troops seems next to impossible.  However, there are times when the status quo is more expensive than the hardware the department is asking for. 

Case in point… MorphoIDent portable fingerprint scanner allows field identification of a suspicious person without taking the officer off the street to bring the individual to a precinct office or jail.  The device has a look similar to the average smart phone and fits in a pocket just as easily.  The Blue Tooth or USB interface allows direct link to AFIS through a patrol officer’s laptop and results can be delivered within seconds.
So how does spending $1,700 per scanner save the department money?  That’s easy…

Consider the lost work time of spending one hour to transport and fingerprint ID a person.  Sure there’s the cost of one hour of the officer’s salary, but add to it the total cost per hour of benefits, HR admin time, and vehicle cost for the trip to the “cop shop”.  That would be the officer’s “loaded rate.”  Now, add the loaded rate for anyone assisting the officer once he gets to HQ.  Intangible costs include the loss of police presence on the street during that time. Now, multiply that number by the total hours your department spends identifying suspicious people per year.

Compare that number with the price of a scanner.  Which one is cheaper?  You tell me.
Instead of a full set of prints, only scans of the two index fingers are taken.  Once a match is made, the suspect’s picture and demographic information are displayed on screen.  The system is robust enough to analyze multiple suspects at the same time (because birds of a feather do flock together).  A vibration alert notifies the officer when the scan is successfully made and results are ready.  The 2.4” VGA screen is designed to be visible outdoors in full daylight.

So, how good is this whiz-bang gizmo?  The manufacturer claims the optical sensor is FBI certified and meets their Fingerprint Acquisition Profile (FAP) 20 specifications.  The MorphoIDent claims a scan resolution of 500 dots per inch (dpi) and a 256 gray scale.  Currently, the King County Sheriff’s Office in the Seattle, Washington area operates 4 units and anticipates delivery of 6 more.

Not everyone is ecstatic about the system.  The American Civil Liberties Union (not exactly a fixture in F.O.P. gatherings) has been expressing concerns that the system might be used to collect and store fingerprint information without probable cause.  However, the system is designed to query the AFIS database, not add to it.  Besides, such databases require a full set of prints instead of the two used by MorphoIDent.

Bruce Bremer, MBA is LET’s technology contributor. Bruce retired from the Submarine Service after 21 years of in-depth experience with complex electronic technology. Since then, he has been involved in fleet modernization and military research analysis. He teaches electronics and alternative energy at a Virginia college. Besides his MBA, Bruce earned a Bachelor of Science degree in computer networking. He has been volunteering in public safety for many years.

Learn more about this article here:
http://www.komonews.com/news/tech/New-technology-allows-police-to-get-instant-fingerprints-results-175023291.html
http://www.morpho.com/identification/criminal-identification/handheld-terminals/morphoident/?lang=en
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019468300_fingerprints19m.html

Victims Of 9/11 Plane Crashes Dumped In Landfill.

*Source: Russia Today

A report released by the Pentagon on Tuesday reveals that the remains of some victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks were incinerated and dumped in a suburban Virginia landfill.

This latest news comes as the findings of a Defense Department-led investigation into the alleged mismanagement at the military mortuary at the Dover Air Force base in Delaware are revealed to the press.

Last year, the DoD acknowledged that the remains of at least 274 fallen troops were sent to the King George County landfill outside of Washington, DC. At the time, the military estimated that more than 2,700 fragments of body parts were entered into eternal rest at the garbage dump around 70 miles due-south from the Pentagon. Now, say officials, victims of 9/11 were also disposed of at the site.

The report, released Tuesday, says that the remains of the passengers killed in two separate tragedies on 9/11 were sent to the landfill. Victims of both the plane that was downed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania and those aboard the jet that struck the Pentagon in Northern Virginia are some of those that were sent to Dover, then the landfill. Between the incidents involving both aircraft, a total of 223 people perished on September 11, 2001.

The Defense Department review reveals that “several portions of remains” made it to the Virginia landfill, but does not specifically account for a number. The body parts in question, says the Pentagon, “could not be tested or identified” due to charring and other damages that resulted from the tragedy.

The report adds that mortuary officials first believed that, “after final incineration, nothing remained” of the victims. Reviewing the report, the Washington Post reveals that residual material from 9/11 victims did exist, however, which were handed to a “biomedical waste disposal contractor” hired by the Pentagon that then approved for the remains to go to the landfill.

The mortuary at Dover is typically the site of examination for fallen soldiers killed in battle during America’s foreign wars. Following the September 11 attacks, however, experts at site undertook the examination of several victims. Previously the mortuary also analyzed the remains of the Americans killed during the mass-suicide at the Jonestown camp in 1978.

The Washington Post reveals on Tuesday that, earlier this month, Rep. Rush Holt (D-N.J.), wrote Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta to ask whether the Defense Department could confirm that “no 9/11 victims’ remains were incinerated, mixed with medical waste and sent to a landfill?” Staffers for the congressman confirm to the Post that they did not receive a response to their inquiry.

As an investigation into mortuary practices at Mortuary revealed gross mismanagement, one unnamed employee told investigators that “it was kind of hard to keep track of everything,” and noted that medical examiners were regularly “messing” with the Ziploc bags that contained various body parts.

It was also revealed earlier this month that some top-brass within the Air Force attempted to discipline the whistleblowers from the mortuary that came clean with the allegations of mismanagement.

Moldy Applesauce Repackaged By School Lunch Supplier .