The South African Police Service (SAPS) has claimed large-scale success with the biometrics-based MorphoTouch device since its implementation in November 2003.
SAPS spokesman Captain Percy Morokane says the device had been rolled out across all nine provinces in the country, with 340 units available for "operational deployment". They are given to any relevant SAPS unit on request.
He says the MorphoTouch is a handheld portable device that is capable of downloading and storing the information of up to 60 000 people, enabling police to check for outstanding warrants of arrest of a person who is apprehended or questioned.
A person`s details are checked through biometrics-based fingerprint verification technology, developed by South African company Biometrics.co.za. Morokane explains that information stored in the device consists of the minutia extraction of two fingers and a fingerprint number of every record downloaded.
"Since implementation, the MorphoTouch devices have been used in about 5 000 operations. During these operations, approximately 400 000 persons have been processed with the device and more than 11 000 have been identified as possibly wanted and having warrants of arrest issued against them," Morokane notes.
"The use of the device has been decentralised to 34 AFIS local criminal record centres in the country."
Biometrics.co.za director Bryan Kimmel points out that SAPS`s success rate has been "phenomenal" since the introduction of the MorphoTouch.
"Nine out of 10 times the same criminal is wanted for other crimes, which can now be detected on the spot," he comments, adding that other law enforcement agencies are also looking at employing the MorphoTouch.
Kimmel says the MorphoTouch device and its software can also be used for other applications than crime-fighting, including time and access control systems for remote sites where there are no computers.
"We are also in talks with the Western Cape disaster management centre about the possible use of the device during disaster situations. For example, when issuing aid to disaster-affected communities, identification verification can prevent fraud by logging every member of that community onto the system and ensuring unauthorised people don`t claim aid."
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