Nearly 80 years after it began collecting fingerprints on index cards as a way to identify criminals, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is moving to a new system that improves the accuracy and performance of its existing setup while adding more biometrics.

By adding palm print, face and iris image search capabilities, the FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services Division (CJIS) hopes to improve the accuracy of identity searches, make it easier to positively identify and track criminals as they move through the criminal justice system and provide a wider range of tools for crime scene investigators.

To take full advantage of all of the new capabilities, however, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies may need to update their own systems to be able to capture the data, forward it to the FBI and search against the nationwide database.

NGI timeline 1924

The FBI makes its first foray into biometrics, with fingerprints on index cards. 1980

FBI launches its first computer system created to search fingerprint files. 1992

FBI debuts the Criminal Justice Information Services Division. 1995

The Bureau begins work on the Integrated Automated Fingerprint ID System database (IAFIS) to automate fingerprint collection and retrieval. 1999

IAFIS is fully deployed. 2008

Development of the $1.2 billion Next Generation Identification (NGI) system begins. February 2011

CJIS delivers a more powerful computer system with a more accurate algorithm to match flat and rolled fingerprints to the criminal master file database. August 2011

The FBI adds the Repository of Individuals of Special Concern, which includes "the worst of the worst" criminals, and launches a system that lets officers in the field use a mobile system to scan two fingers of the suspect and query NGI for a nearly instantaneous response. February 2012

The FBI launches Interstate Photo System Facial Recognition Pilot with three states, which allows searches against more than 15 million mug shots. May 2013

A new latent fingerprint matching feature, which matches fingerprints found at a crime scene with those in the system, debuts, with nearly three times greater accuracy. FBI launches a new palm print database and search service; the new system handles 200,000 requests per day with a response time of 10 seconds or less. 2014

- Facial recognition service to go live.

- Iris recognition pilot to launch.

- IAFIS system to be decommissioned.

"Most booking stations are starting to gather all of the modalities -- fingerprints, palm, and face and iris," says Jon Kevin Reid, assistant section chief in the CJIS division. But many regional and local law enforcement systems don't yet capture all of that information, and will need to upgrade their own systems to reap the benefits from the new system.

The current database, the FBI's Integrated Automated Fingerprint ID System (IAFIS), includes information on 135 million criminals and terrorists, as well as civil servants and other citizens who work in "positions of trust."

Since its launch in 2008, the $1.2 billion Next Generation Identification (NGI) project has been incrementally replacing pieces of the aging IAFIS and adding new features (see the text box at right).

To date, the agency has upgraded the ten-print system hardware and software, launched a new palm-print search capability and is currently piloting face recognition services with an eye toward full deployment next year. An iris recognition pilot will commence next summer.

"NGI is a seven-year program and we're in the last year," says Reid. By the end of 2014, the agency plans to have all new functions rolled out and the entirety of IAFIS decommissioned.

Mobile ID

The recently released mobile ID system is one of the more compelling new features in NGI. It lets officers in the field use a handheld fingerprint scanner during a traffic stop and run a two-fingerprint check against the NGI's newly created Repository of Individuals of Special Concern (RISC).

That subset of the criminal master file includes "the worst of the worst," Reid explains, such as criminals with outstanding warrants,known sex offenders and suspected and known terrorists. Responses come back within six seconds, Reid says.

So far, 13 states are using RISC, and the State of Michigan is currently implementing it, says Scott Blanchard, manager of the automated print identification section at the Michigan State Police.