ImageWare Expands in Maricopa County

SAN DIEGO – ImageWare Systems Inc. (AMEX: IW) recently announced that jail officials in Maricopa County, Ariz., will broaden their use of a mug-shot management software to include the county’s two new jails.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office currently uses IWS Law Enforcement to capture, store and retrieve criminal mug shots, as well as related data and images. Data is shared with the Arizona Department of Public Safety as part of the statewide automated fingerprint ID system and Mug Photo Interface (MPI) subsystem.

IWS Law Enforcement is an identification and investigative tool that can be used to create photo lineups, mug books and photo ID. By expanding into the two new jails and a new booking area, IWS retains its position within the third largest inmate booking system in the United States.

The IWS Biometric Engine offers scalable, agnostic omni-biometric identity management, according to the company. The engine is available as a fully functional Web-based enrollment and identification application or as an SDK that enables it to be integrated into a variety of applications such as national ID, border control, watch list, voter registration, driver license, airport security and other information.

The engine conducts 1:1 biometric searches to verify an individual's identity; 1:n searches to identify an individual within a population; and x:n investigative searches against watch lists and/or black lists. The engine also is vendor independent and supports most biometric algorithms and hardware using standard off-the-shelf hardware.

“The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is a fully integrated law enforcement agency committed to being the leader in establishing the standards for providing professional quality law enforcement, detention, and support services to the citizens of Maricopa County and to other criminal justice agencies,” said Sgt. Artur Fay of Maricopa County Sheriff's Office.