Victor Roncea Blog

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Police in the US are using an iPhone app to take photos of suspects and instantly compares them with a criminal database.

The app employs biometric information such as facial recognition software to help police identify suspects within seconds.

Known as MORIS (Mobile Offender Recognition and Identification System), the system lets police officers take a photo of a suspect, upload it into a secure network where it is then analysed.

The system itself has been around for a number of years but this is the first time the iPhone’s unique combination of easy interface and high-end capability have been used by the police in this way.

If a biometric match is made, the identity, photo and background information about the suspect is transmitted back to the police officer’s iPhone and displayed.

The app will be used by the gang unit at Brockton police in Massachusetts at first although if it is a success it will be taken on by other parts of the force.

It will eventually be used by 28 police departments and 14 sheriff departments in the state.

‘This is something the officers can access when they are out on the road,’ Police Chief William Conlon said.

Brockton is the first police force in the US to use the device – other departments are expected to receive them shortly.

The iPhone being used in Brockton equipped with the facial recognition application but iris and fingerprint identification applications are expected to be added in time.

‘We are not going to just randomly stop people,’ Conlon said. ‘It will be used when someone has done something

Sean Mullin, CEO of BI2 Technologies , the firm that developed the technology, said: ‘MORIS finally gives law enforcement the most essential tool they need on the street – the ability to know exactly who they are dealing with, and the background and risk factors associated with that individual, in seconds.

‘The need and demand for the capability provided by MORIS is overwhelming. It is not an overstatement to say that this may be the most significant technological advance for law enforcement since the introduction of radios. It’s that significant.’

Mullin said that BI2 Technologies expects that ‘MORIS will be used to quickly identify convicted sex offenders, illegal immigrants, gang members and individuals with outstanding warrants in seconds.’

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