By Heather Sackett | ColoradoCommunityNewspapers.com | Feb. 6, 2010

The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office has unveiled a cutting-edge technology it says will help enhance its public safety programs.

The new tool, called iris biometric recognition technology, can positively identify a person by quickly taking a photograph of the colored part of their eye. Police departments can use the system to quickly and accurately identify missing children and adults, identify and track registered sex offenders and identify inmates.

The unit, which includes a camera, computer and software, was awarded by the National Sheriff’s Association and funded by a $10,000 grant from the Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services Program. The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office was the first department in Colorado to receive one of the grants.

Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said his department will begin using the iris-recognition technology immediately.
 

“We had different people trained in using the device and two are certified to be trainers,” he said at a Feb. 5 news conference.

Robinson said his department will begin sharing the technology with area police departments over the next few weeks.

According to Patricia Lawton, Senior Development offficer of Biometric Intelligence and Identification Technologies — the Plymouth, Mass., company that developed the system — iris recognition is 12 times more accurate than identification by fingerprints. Unlike a driver’s license or Social Security number, a person’s iris cannot be lost, counterfeited or forgotten, she said. Irises are unique to each individual, even among twins. The system can also tell the difference between a person’s left and right eye.

“It’s far superior to any other technology,” Lawton said.

The system works by holding the camera about a foot away from the eye while it takes a digital photograph of the iris. The user will be verbally prompted by the system. If a user is already in the system, their information will appear on the computer screen in about eight seconds. This could be particularly useful to booking officers because it could eliminate the time-consuming process of collecting a previous arrestee’s personal information again.

“This is a tool that will help us smooth that timeline out,” Robinson said. “This will only enhance programs we currently have in place.”