FBI Upgrades to Faster, More Accurate Fingerprint Identification System
The FBI today said it's made a long-awaited switch from its Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) to an upgraded, faster one the FBI calls Advanced Fingerprint Information Technology (AFIT). The AFIT replacement prepares the way for going beyond fingerprint identification to other biometrics, including latent palm prints and facial recognition, the next step in the FBI's multiyear effort called the Next Generation Identification (NGI) system.
"With the new system, we increase speed and accuracy of information," says John Traxler, the program manager for NGI in the FBI's Clarksburg, W.Va., facility which supports the core mission to match fingerprints submitted electronically by law enforcement against those stored and cataloged in the FBI's database in order to help solve criminal and civil cases.
The old AFIS fingerprint-matching system took up to two hours to respond to a fingerprint pattern-matching request in criminal cases and 24 hours for civil cases, says Traxler. "Our goal for criminal prints is now 10 minutes, and civil, 15 minutes," says Traxler.
