fingerprint
Hooligans face fingerprintchecks at World Cup...The Bavarian Police in Germany are to usemobile fingerprinting technology in a bid tocrack down on potential hooligans in nextyear's football world cup. World Cuporganisers estimate the number of potentiallyviolent fans planning to attend next year'smatches at 10,000.
The police department has chosentechnology from IT services provider Steria, whohas already implemented its fingerprint imagetransmission (FIT) solution at several of theregion’s football grounds, such as the newAllianzArena ground in Munich and atFrankenstadion in Nuremberg, both of whichare now hosting Bundesliga matches.
A number of German regions such asBavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hesse and thecity-state of Hamburg now use biometricsecurity systems. Prints are collected using ascanner and are processed electronically and inreal time. The fingerprint image transmissionsystem automatically compares the data collectedwith fingerprints stored in the databases of therelevant Land or in those of the federal criminalpolice force. The company claims that thisprocedure only takes a few seconds to identifyindividuals, regardless of their location.According to the company, this type oftechnology is particularly well suited tomaintaining security at busy events, such asfootball matches.
In the event of doubt about a suspect’sidentity, prints can be taken directly at theground and compared with those stored in BKA(Bundeskriminalamt – the German federalcriminal police office) and Bavarian databases,thus saving police time and resources andenabling innocent parties to return to the stands,should the result be negative.
Contact: Isabelle Grangé at Steria,Tel .: +33 1 34 88 64 44, Email:[email protected]
...While Dutch police keephooligans at homeIn a separate hooligan-related development, theDutch Justice Ministry has approved the use ofspeaker verification technology to preventhooligans from attending football matches.
The system, marketed in Europe by Elmo-Tech, and using technology from Israeli company
Persay, is designed to help police ensure thatpeople convicted of hooliganism stay away fromgames. It works by randomly calling convictedhooligans at home during a match andautomatically ensure the call is answered by thecorrect person. The system is reportedly able tospot recordings.
A similar system is used to keep track ofpeople under house arrest in several countries,including the USA, UK, New Zealand and Spain.
Product news
Cross Match kit goes intocombatSoldiers going into combat zones could soonbe adding to their kit with a multi-biometricsolution designed for a multitude ofpurposes. The wearable solution is to beoffered by Cross Match Technologies, acompany that already has earlier versions ofthe technology in use today in Iraq,Afghanistan, Cuba, Hurricane Katrina-impacted areas and other places, for theenrolment and identification of military andgovernment personnel, police, securityforces, detainees and casualties.
The new Global Rapid Identification System(GRIDS) human wearable system was developedwith specific input from multiple governmentorganizations. To develop the new technologyCross Match partnered with Quantum3D, acompany providing the human wearable, 2D/3D-embedded visual computer.
The GRIDS Jump Kit fits in a small vestpouch or backpack and weighs roughly four toseven pounds depending on options. It is fullybattery operated for sustained in-field operationaluse. The kit contains the Quantum3D'sTHERMITE computer with Cross Matchsoftware, a Cross Match MV5 X hand-heldforensic quality fingerprint scanner, an iris camera,a digital camera, and Global Positioning System(GPS) software to capture the latitude andlongitude of the place at which an individual isbeing enrolled.
Contact: Maureen Stevens at Cross MatchTechnologies, Tel: +1 561 493 7327, email: [email protected]
Industry news
EU Biometrics Portal getsunderwayThe European Commission has launched abiometric portal designed to bring together
NEWS
Biometric Technology Today • November/December 2005
a p p l i c a t i o nn e w s
• US retail solutionsmanufacturer Dresser Wayne isusing hand geometry readersprovided by RecognitionSystems to track employeeattendance. At its facility inAustin, Texas, the company hasinstalled the readers to tracktime and attendance for 400employees spread across fourbuildings and claims the resultis leading to annual payrollsavings of approximatelyUS$20,000. Informationproduced by the LegiantTimecard system helps thecompany plan its hiring, trackovertime usage, and determinethe output per person in eacharea.
• The Australian Departmentof Immigration andMulticultural and IndigenousAffairs (DIMIA) has selectedDaon to provide the softwarefor its operational biometrictrials. The trials, scheduled forcompletion in April 2006,further DIMIA investigationsinto the use of biometrictechnology to support theirImmigration and BorderManagement business strategy.DIMIA intends to improve thecurrent visa and border process,trialing better ways to manageidentification of people seekingentry to Australia, and howbiometric technology canenhance the process.
• Identix has been awarded acontract by the TexasDepartment of Public Safety(TxDPS) to upgrade its livescan network. The contract,said to be worth in excess ofUS$1.8 million, means thatIdentix will supply itsTouchPrint EnhancedDefinition 3800 live scansystems to upgrade and replacelegacy systems and to expandTxDPS's existing live scannetwork across the State. Thelaw enforcement solution alsointegrates video mug shotcapabilities powered by Identix'FaceIt facial recognitionsoftware.
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