The city of Baltimore is looking to acquire some high-tech biometric equipment for its police force. City officials are expected to approve the purchase, through $30,000 in federal grants, of five VAMPIRE tactical forensic devices.
The mobile devices are about the size of a smartphone, and are designed to allow forensic experts to perform biometric identification of latent and live fingerprints in the field in real-time. Their potential benefits are obvious, empowering crime scene investigators to retrieve immediate and relevant information based on biometric evidence available on-site. Speaking to the Baltimore Sun, Baltimore City Police Department Crime Laboratory director Steven O’Dell explained that if the five devices prove effective in helping to close investigations – last year only 952 arrests were made on the city’s 6,700 reported burglaries – the city could end up purchasing more units.
The devices, developed by Booz Allen, rely on Integrated Biometrics’ ‘Sherlock’ fingerprint sensor – which is perhaps a more fitting brand name given the nature of the deployment.
Source: The Baltimore Sun
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