MorphoTrak, Inc., the US subsidiary of Morpho (Safran), the biometric identity management company, has partnered with Identity One to deliver BIOGUARD, a system that identifies inmates through their fingerprints. The BIOGUARD system from Identity One is specifically designed for the demanding needs and exact requirements of the Correctional Center environment. With the added element of fingerprint matching, jail inmates will no longer be able to switch identities.
With BIOGUARD, the offender intake procedure includes capturing two of the individual's fingerprints (usually the index fingers) on an optical fingerprint capture device from MorphoTrak and entering them into a database. Later, when the individual is released, the fingerprints are again checked. The fingerprint reader scans the finger, and within less than one second, the system determines if the person is who he says he is. If the prints match, the system displays a photograph of the inmate for a visual confirmation of identity.
Maricopa County, Arizona is the first county-wide network to benefit from BIOGUARD with fingerprint biometrics. After a career criminal escaped by convincing another inmate who was being released to hand over his identity, Maricopa County detention officials realized they needed a more secure identification system than wristband-only in their jails.
“This is a simple system, but the benefit for the County is very high and they now have a biometric jail identity management platform that can be easily expanded,” says David Smith, president and CEO of Identity One. ”We are very pleased to have this new system,” says Maricopa Deputy Chief Shelly Bunn. “Our citizens and our community are now safeguarded from inmate identity fraud”.