FLORENCE, Ariz. – The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office to pleased to announce it is expanding the use of mobile, multi-modal (iris, fingerprint and facial) biometric identification technology to be used by deputies beginning this week.

Patrol deputies, detectives, and SWAT members will be able to verify the identity, criminal background, and risk information of suspects with a hand held, wireless device on a Smartphone. Sworn deputies will have iris, fingerprint, and facial recognition identification technology available to them virtually anywhere.

If there is a question over an individual’s identity (such as a person with no driver’s license or other identification, or a person with conflicting identification) and the person is stopped for probable cause, the iris ID will make for positive identification within seconds (along with a time, date, and GPS stamp). This is particularly relevant in cases of undocumented aliens.

Using state funding provided by the state legislature and Gov. Jan Brewer, PCSO has been able to purchase weapons, a helicopter, radios and seventy-five MORIS™ units at a cost of $203,572.

Currently, the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has nearly 10,000 individual’s information recorded using iris biometric technology after processing those subjects as they’ve been booked into the PCSO Adult Detention Center. The system was implemented in 2010 to verify an inmate’s identity before he/she is booked and then released from custody.

The MORIS™ Unit pictured PCSO patrol deputies will begin using following training.

Sheriff Paul Babeu said, ʺWe currently use the Iris technology to positive ID all inmates at booking and upon release, to track sex offenders and now in patrol to identify any suspects and those arrested for crimes. Iʹm proud that we are the first Sheriffʹs Office or Police agency in America to use this technology in patrol and it will allow us to improve safety for Pinal families. It will be used with consent, or when we have lawful probable cause for criminal offenses. This technology is futuristic for law enforcement, since a deputy on a rural road can now verify a person’s identity even if they provide false name, date of birth or even a fake ID. The eyes donʹt lie.ʺ

Sean G. Mullin, president of BI2 Technologies said, ʺThe Pinal County Sheriff’s Office is nationally recognized for its unwavering commitment to protecting its citizens. We are honored to be part of Sheriff Paul Babeu’s on-going efforts to effectively use every technological innovation to help fight crime. With a reported seventeen (17%) to thirty (30%) of those captured in the Cartel and Smuggling Corridor already having criminal records in the U.S., we are also honored that the Pinal County Sheriffʹs Office is implementing our Mobile Offender Recognition and Information System (MORIS™) to assist in this effort.”