NPIA rolls out new mobile fingerprinting devices

The National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) is rolling out new mobile fingerprinting devices across the country that will be able to check an individual's identity on the beat within two minutes.

This will enable faster identification of individuals saving the public and police officers time and also help increase the number of offenders who are identified and brought to justice.

The new Mobile Identification (MobileID) service allows police officers to check the persons fingerprints against information from the national fingerprint database, IDENT1 for verification. Fingerprints taken on MobileID devices are not retained after a search.

The devices have been deployed to more than half of forces in England and Wales this year, helping to cut the number of trips police made back to the police station and giving them more time to spend on the frontline.

The roll-out follows successful field trials involving 28 police forces using Lantern devices to test how mobile fingerprinting performs in an operational environment.

Feedback helped the NPIA manage the development of a smaller, hand-held national solution for use by all forces.



Benefits reported from officers who used mobile identification devices as part of the national Lantern field trials, include an average saving of at least 30 minutes per case where used, identification of unconscious or fatal victims at a crime or accident scene and improved levels of public confidence.

The MobileID project forms part of the Information Systems Improvement Strategy, a reform programme for the police service that is using IT to improve efficiency.

Tom McArthur, NPIA Director of Operations, said: "Identification is crucial to police investigations and giving officers the ability to do this on-the-spot within minutes is giving them more time to spend working in their communities, helping to fight crime, bringing more offenders to justice and better protecting the public."

Further information:
NPIA