Police Force Fingers Suspects with Merkatum Biometric System

The Austin Police Department (APD) has concluded a project to sanitize and deduplicate its historical arrests database by utilizing Merkatum's emfiva F/FRS biometric resolution and identity management system.


APD deployed this project with the dual intention to detect individuals with fraud-prone identities in databases and to generate lines of investigation for open cases involving repeat-offenders with possible multiple identities. The deployment consisted of cross-referencing more than 700,000 records and running more than 500 million biometric and biographic comparisons to detect and isolate identity clusters, to generate watch lists and alerts, to enable operative units with process-driven collaboration tools, and to sanitize their arrests database.


Project results were compelling: APD identified thousands of potential identity leads, provided its records management unit the capacity to utilize the existing case management information, and enabled the department to improve overall productivity and costs. The number of cases solved as a direct result of the utilization of the system was not disclosed. The turnkey project involved the deployment of the Merkatum's emfiva F/FRS platform and related specialized professional services at APD facilities for nine months.