The system, known as MORIS (Mobile Offender Recognition and Identification System), lets police officers take a snapshot of a suspect and upload it to a secure network to be analyzed.
If a biometric match is found, the identity, photo and background information of any suspect is transmitted back to the police officer’s iPhone reports the Daily Mail newspaper.
Currently being tested by the gang unit at Brockton police in Massachusetts, the iPhone app is expected to be rolled out across 28 police departments and 14 sheriff departments in the state.
“This is something the officers can access when they are out on the road,” Police Chief William Conlon told the Mail. “We are not going to just randomly stop people. It will be used when someone has done something.”
Sean Mullin, CEO of BI2 Technologies, the company behind the technology used by the app added: “MORIS finally gives law enforcement the most essential tool they need on the street – the ability to know exactly who they are dealing with, and the background and risk factors associated with that individual, in seconds.”
“The need and demand for the capability provided by MORIS is overwhelming. It is not an overstatement to say that this may be the most significant technological advance for law enforcement since the introduction of radios. It’s that significant.”
