Iris ID Biometric Tech to Identify L.A. County Prisoners

“Whereas the county previously relied on a fingerprint and photo-based prisoner identification program, officers will now be able to take advantage of iris biometrics.”

Law enforcement authorities in the County of Los Angeles are going to be using iris scanning technology from Iris ID for prisoner release, thanks to a new agreement with the biometrics specialist.

Iris ID says its OU7S-AK camera module will be used via 163 Livescan stations across 114 police stations in the county. Whereas the county previously relied on a fingerprint and photo-based prisoner identification program, officers will now be able to take advantage of iris biometrics.

“The Iris ID system will allow for a more accurate release of individuals as a person’s iris is much less susceptible to damage than their fingerprints,” explained Iris ID director Tim Meyerhoff in a statement. “With more than 300,000 bookings annually, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is always interested in eliminating the improper release of any individual.”

In announcing the agreement, Iris ID noted that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is part of the Los Angeles County Regional Identification System. LACRIS, a major biometric criminal database, interfaces with state and federal databases including the FBI’s Next Generation Identification system.

The company also explained that its iris recognition technology was part of a 2015 pilot project funded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has sought to make iris biometrics an increasingly important component of NGI.

Iris ID’s work with the county will be overseen by DataWorks Plus as part of a larger IT contract. Implementation is slated to begin after July 1st, with Iris ID anticipating that the project will be completed by the end of the year.