Mobile biometric solution provides coroners with vital ID tool

A mobile fingerprint solution is being used by coroners and medical examiners in Denver, Colorado to provide faster and more secure identification of decedents at a scene.Called FingerSCAN DecedentID, the new solution is an Android application that runs on commercial-of-the-shelf (COTS) Android devices and works with the Integrated Biometrics Watson Mini fingerprint scanner.It has been developed by WoVo Identity Solutions, woman-owned, veteran-owned small business located near Denver.FingerSCAN DecedentID was introduced at the Colorado Coroners Association Annual Conference earlier this month. Prior to this conference, the coroners at the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner had the opportunity to privately test drive FingerSCAN DecedentID as an early adopter of the new technology.Coroner Harris Neil of the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner had this to say on the solution:”The FingerSCAN DecedentID application has enabled us to identify decedents within hours of the death, rather than the following day, as was the case with inked prints. As the application has been moved to its current version, it's actually possible for me to email a print card to the fingerprint technicians electronically from the scene and get an identity confirmation the same day. An example of how this has helped was a recent case where a young man committed suicide by jumping from a bridge into traffic.”As is typical with cases like this, the story makes the news identifying the decedent only as a “person”, and therefore many families with missing family members begin calling the office. In the past, all we could do is rule out by gender, and obvious characteristics; and then take information to call back those whose family member it could possibly be.”In this recent case, using FingerSCAN DecedentID with the Watson Mini fingerprint scanner, I was able to get prints at the scene and have the decedent identified within one hour. Thus we were able to notify the next-of-kin, and put all other caller's minds at ease rather quickly”.”I have also had cases where a body is fairly decomposed, but I've been able to get usable prints at the scene using the FingerSCAN DecedentID system.”FingerSCAN DecedentID auto-generates a form (decedent fingerprint card) suitable for submission to any agency, so comparisons are fast and easy. This enables faster information sharing.

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