05/27/2008
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Staff photo by Joe Phelanfrom the Kennebec Journal
BUDGET CUTS ORDERED
Many happy returns in Richmond
Tax woes land on Whitefield
Rapist denied new trial
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SPORT OF KINGS Falconry a blend of dedication and commitment
COLLEGE HOCKEY: Maine rallies but falls short against Boston College
COLLEGE ROUNDUP: Colby women win season opener at home tournament
All of today's:
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from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
WEDDING BURGLAR JAILED
Youths talk Turkey Day
Plenty of free Thanksgiving meals available
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Kennebec County Superior Court
POLICE
COLLEGE HOCKEY: Maine rallies but falls short against Boston College
COLLEGE ROUNDUP: Colby women win season opener at home tournament
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
Staff Writer
New technology in Kennebec County -- and throughout Maine -- will offer parents and families a different avenue to identify and protect their loved ones.
More than 20 law enforcement agencies, including the Kennebec County Sheriff's Office, last week received an iris scanning device, a machine that uses unique patterns on the human eye to positively identify an individual.
In Kennebec County, Sheriff Randall Liberty said interest in adding to the tools that protect individuals' identities, particularly children's, has been on the rise.
"Parents want their children to have some form of identification," Liberty said. "Whether it's fingerprints, or (iris scanning), or whatever, it's something many of them want done."
Liberty used the technology as a military police officer in Fallujah in 2005, an Iraqi city 40 miles west of Baghdad. The technique was used to identify Iraqi military-age males who wanted to enter the city.
"Let's say a young child is abducted, then later found alive," Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross said. "They know their name, but they may not know where they live. If they're in the system, we can have a positive ID within seconds."
The system would also work with a child who has been brainwashed or won't give their name out of fear, and with older adults who suffer from Alzheimer's disease or dementia. Registration is free, Ross said, and the scanner can be used by a variety of groups, such as schools.
The scanners surpass the limitations of fingerprint databases, Ross said.
"If we do fingerprinting cards at a school, the cards are given back to the parents, and if their child goes missing, they can't always locate that card again," he said. "Even if they can, an expert would have to determine that the card and evidence indeed match."
The new tool, both sheriffs agreed, should be treated as just that: another tool.
"It's not the end-all, be-all," Ross said. "Just like the fingerprint database, this is additional insurance."
In the nearly two years Penobscot County has had the scanner, Ross said complaints have been minimal.
"I was concerned people would be under the impression that 'Big Brother' would be watching them, or of eye damage," he said.
"The scanner is perfectly safe, and if the database was stolen, the only way a person's file can be found is if they are physically present to be scanned to bring it up."
The equipment -- a laptop computer, scanner, and Web camera -- is portable.
The names, photos and information of each registrant are filed on a laptop.
The scanner itself, which look likes a pair of thick binoculars, measures the pattern of the iris. The Web camera, perched on top of the monitor, photographs the eyes and the person's face.
As with fingerprints, the iris of the eye has a unique pattern. When the subject is registered in a database, managed by The Nation's Missing Children Organization and National Center of Missing Adults, the image of the iris is stored with the full name, emergency contact name and phone number of the subject.
A picture of the subject can be included but is not necessary, since only the subject's iris is needed to match the file.
The scanners were distributed by the Penobscot County Sheriff's Office, which is going into its second year using the relatively new technology.
Penobscot County was the first county in Maine to use iris scanning, when it received a $25,000 grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation. County officials then collaborated with the Galen Cole Family Foundation, who made it possible for the scanners to be distributed to law enforcement agencies with an interest in using the tools, Ross said.
Agencies are required to register at least 125 people a year, and a minimum of 500 within five years, Ross said. After that, the scanner becomes the property of the agency or another agency will get use of it.
In Penobscot County, 500 children are registered in the database. Liberty's intentions are to offer the voluntary registration to children at a children's camp in Winthrop this summer.
He also plans to share the resource with municipal police departments in Kennebec and Somerset counties.
Still, many other local agencies consider their traditional methods of identification, such as urine, blood and hair samples to be sufficient.
"Personally, I didn't know this was used in a law enforcement capacity," Augusta police Lt. J. Chris Read said.
The Augusta Police Department prefers to rely on supplies in a DNA packet the department makes available to families.
Included in the packet are a card for fingerprinting, storage for hair, blood or urine samples, and sterile swabs for collecting DNA.
The traditional tools are easier for the police department to use, Read said, as they can used to help find a missing child who has been fingerprinted, and at the same time can be used at a crime scene if a child has been hurt or killed.
Meghan V. Malloy -- 623-3811 Ext. 431
mmalloy@centralmaine.com
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