The Mesa, Arizona Police Department patrol officers will now be able to perform fingerprint checks in the field 24/7, with the purchase of 30 additional MorphoIDent mobile fingerprint capture devices from MorphoTrak, a U.S. subsidiary of Morpho (Safran).
This roll-out follows an initial pilot deployment of six MorphoIDent units in 2012 for the Department's patrol vehicles.
MorphoIDent is a handheld mobile fingerprint identification device that helps police make fingerprint searches “in the field”, without having to bring subjects to the station for fingerprinting. With MorphoIDent, police can positively identify and detain wanted or dangerous subjects, even those who lie about their identity. If there is no fingerprint match, the print is discarded and the officer sends the person on their way.
“Adding more MorphoIDents makes sense,” says Bill Kalaf, Executive Director - Intelligence-Led Policing at the Mesa PD. “They now have enough MorphoIDent devices to cover all three of their daily patrol shifts in all four of their geographical districts, 7 days a week. MorphoIDent is a great tool for us, and functions as a force-multiplier,” says Kalaf.
Another benefit of MorphoIDent to the Mesa PD is its ability to interface with the FBI's RISC (Repository of Individuals of Special Concern) database. The national RISC database includes approximately 2 million records of wanted persons, sex offender registry subjects, and known or suspected terrorists.
With an interface to the FBI's RISC database, officers are even able to tell if the person is wanted in another state. The Arizona Department of Public Safety completed their RISC interface at the end of April. Having MorphoIDent gave Mesa PD immediate access to the nationwide RISC database as soon as it came online in Arizona.