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    1. Access & Identity
    2. Biometrics

    State of Washington's Sheriff's Dept. to use County-Wide Criminal Biometric Database

    March 16, 2006
    Sheriff's department selects Cross Match Technologies' readers for development of biometric database
    Related To: Crossmatch

    Palm Beach Gardens, FL, March 15, 2006 - Cross Match Technologies, a global leader in providing high-quality interoperable biometric identity applications and solutions, announced today that its ID-2500 full hand scanner has been selected by the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office in Snohomish County, WA. The Livescan system will help ensure the capture, storage and archival of both finger and palm prints of all individuals arrested or held for criminal purposes by law enforcement agencies in Snohomish County.

    The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office helps to preserve the peace and prosperity of over 600,000 people in the State of Washington. In order to maintain records of criminals not currently fingerprinted by the traditional ink-on-paper methods, the department needed a sophisticated and automated solution to track the identities of criminals in a unified database accessible by local law enforcement agencies throughout the county. Cross Match's ID-2500 full hand scanner electronically transfers and links criminal information between the Snohomish County Sheriffs Department and Washington State Patrol, and provides the agencies with the ability to search the database in real-time to quickly identify subjects.

    "As the third largest county in the State of Washington, we needed a way to organize the enormous amount of criminal information we've compiled through manual fingerprinting over the years, and improve the efficiency of our criminal booking system," said David Bales, Support-Services Bureau Chief for the Snohomish County Sheriff's Department. "After speaking with several law enforcement agencies throughout the state, we found Cross Match to be the ideal solution for us based on its proven ability to capture, store, and streamline criminal information."

    Cross Match's ID-2500 full hand scanner captures the maximum amount of minutiae data in a digitized format, as opposed to traditional ink-on-paper methods. With the system, images can be captured, transmitted to a central location and/or interfaced with an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to help law enforcement agencies improve their identification processing. By providing a way for agencies to produce and store consistent high-quality finger and palm print images, Cross Match's Livescan system thereby will help reduce rejection rates from the FBI, and save a significant amount of time and money in processing and other related administrative tasks.

    "We are excited to have the opportunity to help the Snohomish County Sheriff's Department improve its criminal records with our Livescan solution," said James W. Ziglar, president and chief executive officer for Cross Match Technologies. "Cross Match provides law enforcement solutions ranging from basic applicant background checks to the advanced full hand scanners. This breadth and depth of offerings has made Cross Match the industry leader in Livescan solutions."