FBI

AFIS, CJIS, DNA, face, FBI, finger, fingerprint, government, iris, Kirkpatrick, law enforcement, modality, palm, privacy, tweetchat

Biometrics & the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS)

Here’s a Storify transcript of this morning’s Tweet Chat about biometrics (#biometricchat).

I offer many thanks to John at M2SYS for asking me to fill in for him and Mike Kirkpatrick for taking time out of his busy schedule to lend his experience to our understanding of the FBI’s use of biometrics for law enforcement and civilian purposes.

Background for the conversation is here.

July, 19 2012 Biometric Chat with Mike Kirkpatrick : Assistant Director in Charge of the Bureau’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division from April 2001 – August 2004.

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  1. SecurLinx
    Good morning and welcome to this month’s chat on#biometric technology! #biometricchat
  2. SecurLinx
    I’m honored to be filling in for John @m2sys as this month’s host. Thanks for asking me, John!#biometricchat
  3. m2sys
    Good morning to you and thanks for taking over this month’s chat – we really are appreciative of your guest hosting skills! #biometricchat
  4. SecurLinx
    @m2sys The pleasure is mine. AND Thank you, and welcome to Mike @MDKConsulting, for joining us.#biometricchat
  5. SecurLinx
    Today, we will be discussing #biometrics in Law Enforcement (esp. FBI). Our guest is Michael Kirkpatrick. @MDKConsulting #biometricchat
  6. MDKConsulting
    Thanks for the invite! I’m looking forward to this morning’s chat #biometricchat
  7. SecurLinx
    @MDKConsulting Mike finished his FBI career as Asst. Dir. in charge of the FBI’s CJIS center (Apr. 2001 – Aug. 2004) #biometricchat
  8. SecurLinx
    Those dates should give you some idea of the challenges at the FBI’s CJIS. #biometricchat
  9. m2sys
    @SecurLinx Quite a tumultuous time at the FBI’s CJIS…anxious to hear some of Mike’s feedback and insight. #biometricchat
  10. SecurLinx
    Feel free to chip in with your own answers – answer each question (Q1, Q2, Q3, etc.) with A1, A2, A3, etc.#biometricchat
  11. SecurLinx
    Also feel free to submit your own questions during chat or ask other questions of the group. #biometricchat
  12. SecurLinx
    Q1: What was the biggest challenge CJIS faced in the transition from a paper fingerprint system to a fully fledged IAFIS? #biometricchat
  13. MDKConsulting
    A1:There were several challenges. Building the world’s largest #AFIS; IdM had never been done on that scale before… #biometricchat
  14. Note: IdM = Identity Management
  15. MDKConsulting
    A1…Getting the budget to build it ($640M); there were no #fingerprint electronic transmission standards so they had to be.. #biometricchat
  16. MDKConsulting
    A1:…developed (EFTS); Most #fingerprints were still being captured on paper so had to be converted to digital images:… #biometricchat
  17. MDKConsulting
    A1:…Major #FBI workforce retraining; IAFIS didn’t always work as advertised in the early days so alot of downtime #biometricchat
  18. m2sys
    Q1: Were lawmakers at the time reluctant to fund this or was it generally accepted that this was natural maturation? #biometricchat
  19. MDKConsulting
    m2sys A1: Overall, congress was very supportive but this was a high profile project, the only one of its peer projects… #biometricchat
  20. MDKConsulting
    m2sys A1:…(e.g., FAA & IRS modernizations) to succeed. It turned out to be a high risk/high reward project #biometricchat
  21. SecurLinx
    Q2: CJIS is a key part of US ID infrastructure. What is the breakdown between Law Enforcement vs civilian/licensing queries? #biometricchat
  22. SecurLinx
    FBI CJIS is used for firearm background checks, child care workers, financial services employment and more…#biometricchat
  24. BiometricUpdate
    Often wondered about this breakdown myself, actually#biometricchat #biometricchat
  25. MDKConsulting
    A2: #FBI has 2 #fingerprint streams-criminal and civil (licensing & employment checks). Currently ~55% are criminal… #biometricchat
  26. MDKConsulting
    A2:…and 45% are civil. The original IAFIS was designed to process 60K prints/day. #FBI Next Generation Identification… #biometricchat
  27. MDKConsulting
    A2: …(NGI) now easily processes more than 185K/day. Quite a leap forward! #biometricchat
  29. MDKConsulting
    Firearm pre-sale checks (NICS) are name-based, not fingerprint-based. #biometricchat
  30. SecurLinx
    @mdkconsulting Good catch re firearms… done thru the FBI but no fingerprints involved. #biometricchat
  31. SecurLinx
    Q3: What is the next biometric modality CJIS would like to incorporate into IAFIS? #biometricchat
  32. MDKConsulting
    A3: In order of priority, palm prints, face, and iris capabilities will be added to NGI. #biometricchat
  33. BiometricUpdate
    We just wrote about the B12 MORIS system being adopted by FBI. How much time can apps like this save?bit.ly/LYXvug #biometricchat
  34. SecurLinx
    Let’s go quickly to Q4 and then deal with Q3 & Q4 together… #BiometricChat
  35. SecurLinx
    Q4: Then, if the Big Three of #biometrics are Face, Finger/palm print & Iris – Where does DNA fit in?#BiometricChat
  36. MDKConsulting
    A4: There’s an ongoing multi-agency effort on rapid#DNA, which will put a “quick” DNA capability at the …#biometricchat
  37. SecurLinx
    @mdkconsulting Love the quotes around quick. Definitely quick compared to earlier DNA analysis!#BiometricChat
  38. MDKConsulting
    A4:…booking stations. We should see this in the market within the next couple of years. It’ll help solve alot of cases. #biometricchat
  39. MDKConsulting
    A4: #DNA in many ways is the ultimate #biometric but still has many privacy issues associated with it as well as the past… #biometricchat
  40. MDKConsulting
    A4:…relative slowness in getting results. It can prove someone innocent as easily as proving someone guilty, which is… #biometricchat
  41. MDKConsulting
    A4:…good as all in criminal justice should be searching for the truth. #biometricchat
  42. SecurLinx
    @MDKConsulting Excellent point. Biometrics can be evidence of either innocence and guilt. #biometricchat
  43. m2sys
    @MDKConsulting Q4: So DNA quick checks will be at booking stations to circumvent lab analysis in as little as a few years? #biometricchat
  44. MDKConsulting
    @m2sys A4: These are envisioned as a “quick” check as an investigative lead rather than a full-on forensic lab exam #biometricchat
  45. m2sys
    @MDKConsulting Thank you, truly amazing advances in science for DNA processing! #biometricchat
  46. MDKConsulting
    Currently, #FBI is processing criminal fingerprints in just a few minutes. Rapid DNA is envisioned to be more like an hour. #biometricchat
  47. SecurLinx
    Q3/4b: Which (palm, face, iris, DNA) advancement in CJIS capabilities is furthest along? #BiometricChat
  49. SecurLinx
    Last question Q5: What are some near future capabilities related to #biometrics that the FBI would really like to add? #biometricchat
  50. MDKConsulting
    A5: #FBI & law enforcement are looking for smaller, faster, cheaper mobile #biometric collection devices; capability for … #biometricchat
  51. MDKConsulting
    A5:…collection at a distance for fingerprints and iris; implementation of a national palm print capability (a high % of … #biometricchat
  52. MDKConsulting
    A5:…crime scene latents are palm prints); and greater accuracy in facial recognition technology for large databases. #biometricchat
  53. BiometricUpdate
    @MDKConsulting is palm a priority for any particular reason, or is it just an indication of technological advancement? #biometricchat
  54. MDKConsulting
    A @biometricupdate: Palm print capability will help to solve many crimes which are unsolved without it. Countries, such … #biometricchat
  55. MDKConsulting
    A @biometricupdate: …as Australia, which have implemented palms have reported significant increases in latent matches. #biometricchat
  56. SecurLinx
    That’s all folks. Our sincere thanks to @MDKConcultingMike Kirkpartick for taking the time to talk with us: FBI#biometricchat
  57. SecurLinx
    We kept him a little late but hopefully @MDKConsulting(and you) enjoyed our conversation as much as I did.#BiometricChat
  58. MDKConsulting
    Thanks! I’ve appreciated the opportunity to chat about one of my passions! #biometricchat
  60. m2sys
    @MDKConsulting Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us, it was extremely informative!#biometricchat
  61. SecurLinx
    Thanks @MDKConsulting! Thanks @m2sys for lending me the #BiometricChat hashtag! & to@BiometricUpdate for the questions!
chat, CJIS, FBI, fingerprint, modality, tweetchat

Today 11 AM EDT: Twitter Biometric Chat with Mike Kirkpatrick – Biometrics at FBI’s CJIS

UPDATE: 
Questions added in bold section below.

When: July 19, 2012 — 11:00 am EDT; 8:00 am PDT; 16:00 pm BST; 17:00 pm CEST; 23:00 pm SGT; 0:00 JST

Where: tweetchat.com (hashtag #biometricchat) 

What: Tweet chat on Biometrics and Law Enforcement with Michael D. Kirkpatrick (@MDKConsulting)

Questions:

Q1: What was the biggest challenge CJIS faced in the transition from a paper fingerprint system to a fully fledged IAFIS?
Q2: CJIS is a key part of US ID infrastructure. What is the breakdown between Law Enforcement vs civilian/licensing queries?
Q3: What is the next biometric modality CJIS would like to incorporate into IAFIS?
Q4: If the Big Three of biometrics are Face, Fingerprint & Iris – Where does DNA fit in?
Q5: What are some capabilities related to biometrics that the FBI would really like to add?

When John at M2SYS asked me to guest host the July #BiometricChat, I immediately thought of Michael Kirkpatrick. I’m happy to announce that he’s agreed to join us. I offer my sincere thanks to both of them for the opportunity.

Michael Kirkpatrick

Michael D. Kirkpatrick, as the FBI’s Assistant Director in Charge of the Bureau’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division from January 2001 – August 2004, led the Division through profound IT changes especially relating to the application of biometric technologies to the challenges of law enforcement.

Back in the day (i.e. before 1999), fingerprint analysis for law enforcement purposes was a much different ball game. Everything was accomplished with paper, ink, and highly-trained, dedicated  fingerprint analysts. That made law enforcement biometrics pretty much the only biometrics game in town because there weren’t really any commercial applications for that type of set-up. Sure, some professions required criminal background checks, but the fingerprinting part was mostly there to make it easier to catch people in the event they committed crimes at some later date.

Presently, the FBI maintains the world’s largest collection of biometric data and facilitates information sharing between law enforcement organizations and a range of both public and private entities. The CJIS center handles more than 61 million ten-print submissions a year. Average response time for an electronic criminal fingerprint submission is about 27 minutes, Electronic civil submissions are processed within 72 minutes.

The successful transition from a paper system to an Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), presented a range of technical, organizational and managerial challenges such as: What to do with all the paper records; What technical standards to apply to digitization; Determining what confidence level constitutes a match; How to receive input remotely and transmit results;  How to store the information securely; What policies to put in place; Determining whether current international agreements were adequate or forging new ones necessary. The list goes on and on.

Without the hard work sorting out these kinds of questions done by those at CJIS, biometric ID management applications, beginning with fingerprint biometrics, simply would not have nearly the impact in the public and private sectors that they do today. Michael D. Kirkpatrick was one of the many people who helped make it all possible.

Over the course of his career, Michael has done far too many interesting things in law enforcement and biometrics than can be listed here. Thankfully, he has posted a brief overview of some of his experiences at his site, here. He tweets at @MDKConsulting

We hope that you will spread the word among your colleagues and friends and join us Thursday, July 19 at 11am EDT.

FBI, object recognition, tattoo

FBI Wants a Tattoo Interpretation System

What Does Your Tattoo Say About You? The FBI Wants to Know. (Nextgov)

The FBI is consulting local police and vendors about technology currently in use that can spot crooks and terrorists by interpreting the symbolism of their tattoos, according to government documents. The inquiry follows work already underway at the bureau and Homeland Security Department to add iris and facial recognition services to their respective fingerprint databases.

The FBI on Friday issued a request for information on existing databases “containing tattoo/symbol images, their possible meanings, gang affiliations, terrorist groups or other criminal organizations.”

What is described is more of a pattern recognition system but it is related to biometrics.

See: Biometrics, object recognition and search

AFIS, chat, CJIS, FBI, ID management, interoperability, Kirkpatrick, law enforcement, management, modality, standards, technology, tweetchat

Michael D. Kirkpatrick FBI Assistant Director in Charge of Criminal Justice Information Services (Ret.) to Discuss Biometrics & Law Enforcement at July #BiometricChat

When: July 19, 2012 — 11:00 am EDT; 8:00 am PDT; 16:00 pm BST; 17:00 pm CEST; 23:00 pm SGT; 0:00 JST

Where: tweetchat.com (hashtag #biometricchat) 

What: Tweet chat on Biometrics and Law Enforcement with Michael D. Kirkpatrick (@MDKConsulting)

Topics: The past, present and future of biometric ID management applications in law enforcement, interoperability, modalities.

To send questions for the #BiometricChat:
Email: SecurLinx blog
Twitter: @SecurLinx, hashtag #biometricchat

When John at M2SYS asked me to guest host the July #BiometricChat, I immediately thought of Michael Kirkpatrick. I’m happy to announce that he’s agreed to join us. I offer my sincere thanks to both of them for the opportunity.

Michael Kirkpatrick

Michael D. Kirkpatrick, as the FBI’s Assistant Director in Charge of the Bureau’s Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division from January 2001 – August 2004, led the Division through profound IT changes especially relating to the application of biometric technologies to the challenges of law enforcement.

Back in the day (i.e. before 1999), fingerprint analysis for law enforcement purposes was a much different ball game. Everything was accomplished with paper, ink, and highly-trained, dedicated  fingerprint analysts. That made law enforcement biometrics pretty much the only biometrics game in town because there weren’t really any commercial applications for that type of set-up. Sure, some professions required criminal background checks, but the fingerprinting part was mostly there to make it easier to catch people in the event they committed crimes at some later date.

Presently, the FBI maintains the world’s largest collection of biometric data and facilitates information sharing between law enforcement organizations and a range of both public and private entities. The CJIS center handles more than 61 million ten-print submissions a year. Average response time for an electronic criminal fingerprint submission is about 27 minutes, Electronic civil submissions are processed within 72 minutes.

The successful transition from a paper system to an Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), presented a range of technical, organizational and managerial challenges such as: What to do with all the paper records; What technical standards to apply to digitization; Determining what confidence level constitutes a match; How to receive input remotely and transmit results;  How to store the information securely; What policies to put in place; Determining whether current international agreements were adequate or forging new ones necessary. The list goes on and on.

Without the hard work sorting out these kinds of questions done by those at CJIS, biometric ID management applications, beginning with fingerprint biometrics, simply would not have nearly the impact in the public and private sectors that they do today. Michael D. Kirkpatrick was one of the many people who helped make it all possible.

Over the course of his career, Michael has done far too many interesting things in law enforcement and biometrics than can be listed here. Thankfully, he has posted a brief overview of some of his experiences at his site, here. He tweets at @MDKConsulting

We hope that you will spread the word among your colleagues and friends and join us Thursday, July 19 at 11am EDT.

Please send questions via:
Email: SecurLinx blog
Twitter: @SecurLinx, hashtag #biometricchat

We’ll publish the chat questions in an update to this post early next week.

CJIS, FBI, iris

The FBI Eyes the Future

Hello, Big Brother: FBI Is Building a Database of Iris Scans (Mashable)

By 2014, the FBI plans to test a database for searching iris scans nationwide to quickly track criminals, according to budget documents and a contractor working on the project.

The Next-Generation Identification system, a multiyear $1 billion program already under way, is expanding the server capacity of the FBI’s old fingerprint database to allow for rapid matching of additional physical identifiers, including facial images and palm prints.

Read all the way to the end for a discussion of the civil liberties issues from the inside with Tom Bush (former director if CJIS).

AFIS, border, FBI, law enforcement

Biometrics ID Child Abuser Entering the US for the Fourth Time

Border Patrol Agents arrest convicted sex offender (Deming Headlight)

The subject’s biographical and biometric information was submitted into the “Integrated Automated Identification System,” or IAFIS. The system positively identified the subject and revealed that Ramos-Ruiz had a prior conviction from Iowa for sexual assault with intent to commit sexual abuse with-a-child in August 1987. The information also stated that he had been imprisoned for a period of two years.

cost, criminal background check, DHS, FBI, ID, ID management, TSA, TWIC

Why is the TWIC So Expensive?

TWIC Relief Proposal Unanimously Approved by Homeland Security Committee (TMCnet)

Over the past five years, roughly 2.1 million longshoremen, truckers, merchant mariners, and rail and vessel crew members have undergone extensive background checks and paid a $132.50 fee to obtain these cards. Unless Congress or the Administration acts, starting this October, workers would be required to go through the time and expense of renewing their TWICs. Compelling hardworking Americans to undertake the expense and hassle of renewing their cards is not justifiable given that the basic requirements for biometric readers to match these cards with the cardholders have not been issue by the Department of Homeland Security.

Five years on, the earliest Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWICs) will be expiring soon and renewing them isn’t cheap.

From TSA.gov:

The fee for a renewal TWIC (valid for 5 years) is the same amount as the initial enrollment fee, which is currently 129.75* since another security threat assessment will be performed and a credential issued those individuals who successfully undergo this assessment. Individuals also have the option to enroll with a comparable credential and pay a reduced fee. * Effective March 19, 2012, the enrollment cost was reduced from $132.50 to $129.75 due to a FBI fee decrease.

Transportation workers are peeved that they pay for an ID with all sorts of biometric technology bells and whistles while the ID management systems that they use daily don’t take advantage of the card’s capabilities.

But the TWIC is expensive for reasons other than biometric enrollment. The TWIC applicant must provide: biographic information, identity documents, biometric information (fingerprints), a digital photograph and pay the fee. A TSA employee has to go through all this stuff.

Then, the TSA conducts a security threat assessment on the TWIC applicant sending pertinent parts of the enrollment record to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) so that appropriate terrorist threat, criminal history, and immigration checks can be performed.

This, to say the least, is not a cheap process and my guess is that the labor costs, not technology cost, of issuing a TWIC accounts for a huge proportion of the total. The opportunity cost inflicted on the applicant also seems pretty high (i.e. getting a TWIC is a major annoyance).

So then, what of the Homeland Security Committee desire to remove the TWIC renewal requirement? I guess that depends upon why it was originally determined that the TWIC should be renewed every five years.

According to the TSA: “The renewal process consists of the same steps as the original enrollment process (optional pre-enrollment, in-person enrollment, and card activation.) These steps are required since a security threat assessment is required on all applicants, confirming they still meet eligibility requirements” (emph. mine).

If the cards are expensive because the processing costs are high and background checks are expensive. Are the costs unacceptably high? Is $26 per year too expensive? How much does it cost other entities (FBI, military) to keep ID’s current? Who should pay: the worker, their employer, the government, or some combination of the three?

AFIS, FBI, fingerprint, immigration, law enforcement, Massachusetts, Missouri, secure communities

Massachusetts & Secure Communities

Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson welcomed the news that the program will go into effect statewide May 15 (South Coast Today)

Here’s the AP’s take:
Controversial immigration program goes ahead despite Gov. Patrick’s objections

The program appears to be popular with elected law enforcement officials (county sheriffs) but less so among other elected leaders (the governor and some city councils).

 

Click here for DHS ICE coverage PDF.

The comprehensive PFD at the ICE site has detail for each state. The only participating county in Massachusetts led to the detection of roughly the same number of re-arrested criminal aliens as in entire state of Missouri.

See post below for a national perspective on Secure Communities.