March 22, 1996
Volume 1, Number 2
Fingerprint Images
Introduction
The FBI has received numerous
questions on the use of fingerprint images with NCIC 2000 files.
NCIC users at regional working groups and the Advisory Policy
Board (APB) have expressed concern over the Federal Bureau of
Investigation's (FBI) decision to develop software and hardware
for two different fingerprint matching capabilities. One is to
be used for the NCIC 2000 system and the other is to be used
for the Integrated Automated
Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). This issue will
address these questions and concerns. Additionally, this issue
provides information concerning fingerprint images and files
and the requirements for the NCIC 2000 fingerprint scanner.
Questions and Answers
Q: Why did NCIC 2000 include fingerprint matching
functions?
A: In response to the APB direction, the FBI is
developing an NCIC 2000 system that will provide law enforcement
with enhanced and expanded NCIC information. In order to improve
the identification of individuals who present no identification
or are suspected of presenting fraudulent identification, the
APB voted to include a single fingerprint matching capability
in the NCIC 2000 system. This matching capability has an exceptionally
low error rate requirement and will provide the law officer with
online, instantaneous and accurate identification of individuals
who are currently listed in the wanted, convicted, missing and
unidentified persons files.
Q: How does NCIC 2000 use these fingerprint image
inquiries?
A: The NCIC 2000 fingerprint matching system will
allow input of a live-scanned single right index fingerprint
at a booking station or from a squad car. A rolled ink single
index print may also be scanned and entered from a personal computer
workstation device. The system captures the print image, extracts
the minutiae and other important topological data and compacts
the image data. It then sends all of that information to the
NCIC 2000 to determine if a match can be made.
Q: What are the system design constraints?
A: In many systems, the mobile channel will have
a low capacity and must be shared with many users. Therefore,
the radio transmission must be very fast over the channel.
Q: What does all that mean?
A: NCIC 2000 captures the minimal data needed
by the matcher (i.e., minutiae and ridge contour data). The data
is then compacted and transported over the mobile radio bandwidths
in a minimal amount of time. Compression routines, such as WSQ
and JPEG, create compressed images that are too large to transmit
in reasonable time frames.
Q: But doesn't IAFIS use WSQ standards for fingerprints?
A: Yes. However, IAFIS does not have the design
constraint of radio transmission. As mentioned above, WSQ compressed
images are too large to send over a radio channel in a short
period of time.
Q: Based on a fingerprint search, can we get criminal
history records through NCIC 2000?
A: No. NCIC 2000 was never intended or designed
to be an IAFIS conduit. NCIC 2000 provides quick responses for
inquiries into a much smaller database than IAFIS.
Q: Summary criminal history is important to us. Can
NCIC 2000 be redesigned to allow for fingerprint based criminal
history inquiries?
A: The two systems fingerprint files are not compatible.
Furthermore, even if they were compatible, IAFIS only supports
single digit search capabilities as latent submissions.
Applicable NCIC Files
Like the current NCIC system,
NCIC 2000 will maintain many files that are necessary for agencies
and officers to perform their vital functions. Not all records
maintained by NCIC 2000 will have an associated fingerprint image.
Some files are not specific to a particular person and some person
files may not have had a fingerprint image available when entered
into the computer. The following is a table of those files that
may associate a fingerprint image with the data record.
File Name |
Description |
Wanted Persons: |
This file contains information
about outstanding federal warrants, serious misdemeanor or felony
warrants, and probation and parole violators for serious misdemeanors
or felonies. |
Convicted Person on Supervised
Release: |
This file will contain information
about people who are currently on parole or on supervised mandatory
release from a correctional facility. |
Missing Person: |
This file contains information
about people who are missing that are disabled, juvenile, victims
of catastrophe, subjects whose disappearance appears to be involuntary,
and subjects whose disappearance indicates that their personal
safety is in jeopardy. |
Unidentified Person: |
This file contains information
about unidentified deceased persons, persons who are living and
unable to ascertain their identities, unidentified catastrophe
victims, and body parts when a body has been dismembered. |
Equipment Needs
The NCIC 2000 Fingerprint Matching
System is composed of the following equipment and software:
Printrak fingerprint matching
array processors and software attached to the NCIC 2000 host;
Two Digital Biometrics, Incorporated,
live-scan devices. One is designed specifically for the Workstation
(a personal computer at a booking station), and another, more
compact scanner for the squad car's Mobile Image Unit (MIU);
A Tamarack scanner for rolled
ink prints and other identifying images attached to a workstation
personal computer, and;
Minutiae extraction and image
processing software that may be loaded into the personal computer
as part of the user application software suite, or, if so desired,
be provided as firmware on a personal computer specialized board
(the IPScard).
It is the FBI's intent to provide
federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies with the greatest
degree of flexibility in implementing the NCIC 2000 fingerprint
matching capability. For example, the FBI will offer all specially
developed software free of charge to NCIC 2000 users. Local agencies
must insure their use of these capabilities is consistent with
their state systems. The fingerprint matching equipment listed
above has been specifically and uniquely designed for the NCIC
2000 system. The FBI recognizes that vendor competition leads
to technological advancements. However, in order to ensure and
maintain the quality and integrity of the NCIC 2000 system, the
FBI will require agencies to obtain vendor and manufacturer certification
that their hardware meets or exceeds all NCIC 2000 requirements
prior to purchase and implementation. To help you, as well as
give you some early insight, the following is a list of the NCIC
2000 scanner device requirements:
The minimum area size for a single
fingerprint must be .88" horizontally and 1.2" vertically.
The maximum area size for a single fingerprint must be 1.6"
horizontally and 1.5" vertically.
The spatial sampling frequency
should be at least 500 pixels per inch.
The minimum image dimensions
must be at least 440 pixels horizontally by 600 pixels vertically
by 8-bits per pixel gray-scale.
The scanner must provide adequate
quality such that minutiae may be extracted reliably from the
images or the flat live-scan fingerprint image may be visually
compared to a conventionally obtained (i.e., inked) fingerprint
image.
The scanner must provide a diagnostic
procedure that allows periodic checks by non-technical personnel
to determine if the scanner is in compliance with their specifications
and that is either fully automated or incorporated within the
scanner control logic to be performed at discretion of the operator.
Conclusion
Compared to the overall advancements
in the automation industry, computer fingerprint matching and
other identifying image capabilities are relatively new technologies.
Today's improvements in equipment hardware, storage devices and
increased speeds of computer processors have significantly advanced
the practical application of image technology. Of the most benefit
is the application of this technology to law enforcement. Even
though national crime statistics are showing downward trends,
the "bad guys" that are out there are more mobile and
dangerous. The FBI is committed to improving its services and
will continue to enhance its automation capabilities to support
law enforcement. Harris, for example, is working with the FBI
in developing a logistics and business management plan that will
identify continued improvements to the type of NCIC 2000 products
and capabilities offered for the immediate and future life cycle
of the system. The FBI intends to make this plan available to
and solicit input and comments from all system users before the
end of 1996.
Harris, on its own, has already
begun exploring new avenues of improvement. For example, Harris
has demonstrated a still-frame camera that can capture and hold
up to 37 images. This device is small enough to be carried in
a pocket and hooked to a belt. The camera's captured images may
be downloaded to the NCIC 2000 software application suite at
a booking station, for example, via a common coupling device
hooked to the personal computer's RS 232 port. The camera also
utilizes the J-PEG image compression standard. This camera device
has not been incorporated in the FBI-Harris NCIC 2000 contract,
but represents the kind of potential improvements and flexibility
in the system's capabilities that the FBI is hoping for.
This space is provided for
authorized criminal justice agencies to provide commentary, questions,
or suggestions. We will provide an answer to all questions. If
you would like to submit an article, send it to:
Federal Bureau
of Investigation
Attn: Ms. Katina Mackall
Room 9504
NCIC 2000 Program Office
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20535
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