Arizona police buy face ID tech

The state's Department of Public Safety has signed a contract with ImageWare Systems that will allow officials to conduct facial recognition searches on driver license images.

Mug Photo Interface subsystem fact sheet

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Officials from the Arizona Department of Public Safety have signed a contract with ImageWare Systems Inc. that will allow them to conduct facial recognition searches on driver license images.

Arizona law enforcement agencies already use several ImageWare solutions, including the company's digital booking system. The new agreement is specifically for expanded use of the IWS Biometric Engine, which allows users to perform searches and comparisons face and fingerprint, iris, palm, signature, hand geometry and voice characteristics.

Under the agreement, the search will now include the driver license images from the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division, as well as the statewide Mug Photo Interface, which is a subsystem of the Arizona Automated Fingerprint Identification System.

"The ability to search the driver license database using ImageWare's biometric search engine further enhances our investigative procedures, and will assist in reducing identity fraud cases across the state," Cyndy Pellien, administrative services officer with the department and a leader in creating the Mug Photo Interface, said in a statement.

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