Another one........Pennsylvania Awards Contract to Printrak for Statewide Real-time Mugshot ID System
ANAHEIM, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 21, 1998--A major milestone in criminal justice information systems was achieved Tuesday with the announcement that Printrak International Inc. (Nasdaq: AFIS) will provide a real-time statewide photo imaging network for Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies.
The contract, valued at just under $2 million, was awarded by the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association, which will provide a grant equal to 75 percent of costs to each participating agency. The purchase is believed to be the largest mugshot system contract in history, and is the first phase of a program that will eventually involve hundreds of additional retrieval stations.
With this contract, Pennsylvania becomes the first state to commit to an integrated mugshot network that conforms to the highest image quality requirements of new national standards with the simplicity of a PC/Windows NT interface, according to Lt. Harry Giordano, Philadelphia Police Department. From initial capture of a mugshot at any workstation, it will take less than 5 minutes for the image and accompanying rap sheet to be available to every retrieval station in the state. The total system storage capacity approaches one terabyte.
The state's quality and transmission protocol criteria is based on standards published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). While NIST compliance was a major factor in Printrak's selection, the company offered a number of other competitive benefits, according to Daniel J. Driscoll, president of Printrak's digital justice division.
For example, the company offers proven technology for distributing the state's central database to each of the initial 53 capture/retrieval stations. Local investigators can accomplish a considerable amount of photo screening independent of the central server in Harrisburg. Their work can continue during network outages, network bandwidth is conserved, and retrieval is faster from a local storage medium. The network server can always be used when NIST-quality images are required.
Printrak also claims the fastest system in the world, with the ability to automatically search one million records in seconds. Retrieval from local storage for viewing is at the rate of six images per second. Driscoll added that the company's successful installation of a mugshot system for the city of Philadelphia as well as many other agencies over an eight-year period, is a vivid demonstration of the company's capabilities and commitment.
"The trend toward consolidated one vendor mugshot systems with statewide standardization is just getting under way, and Pennsylvania is the model solution for the rest of the country," Driscoll said. "It's likely that our customers' successes over the past two years in installing NIST-compliant statewide fingerprint identification systems is having an influence on planning for other aspects of criminal justice information systems."
Company Information
Printrak International (http://www.printrakinternational.com) is a leading worldwide supplier of integrated identification and information systems used primarily in criminal justice and public safety applications, and with increasing frequency in civil applications such as national I.D., welfare and immigration control.
Printrak's Digital Justice Solution(TM) provides networked fingerprint, photo imaging, computer-aided dispatch and automated records management systems. The company's systems serve approximately 700 national, state, county and municipal agencies in 36 countries.
CONTACT:
Printrak International Inc., Anaheim
Francine M. Harris, 714/238-2000
or
Lages & Associates
Paula Brici Bordigon, 949/453-8080
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA PENNSYLVANIA
BW0385 JUL 21,1998
13:34 PACIFIC
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