DHS Launches Pilot Program to Integrate with FBI Databases

The Department of Homeland Security is testing a new project that will allow it to use a fingerprint scanning application in some airports. The application will let the DHS tap into an FBI database to more accurately pinpoint potential terrorists.

In an article on the GovExec.com website, Jill R. Aitoro says that under the pilot project, “foreigners landing in Dulles International Airport outside Washington have begun to have the fingerprint from each finger scanned when they enter the United States. Nine other major airports, including John F. Kennedy International in New York, will do the same starting in early 2008.”

The new scan allows the DHS to scan 10 fingerprints and check the identities of visitors against the FBI’s fingerprint database. By scanning 10 fingerprints, the department hopes to reduce the number of visitors erroneously matched to individuals the United States wants to bar from entering the country, such as known terrorists and criminals.

Officials are also hoping the 10-fingerprint standard will better identify criminals and immigration violators based on full or partial prints left at the scene of a crime, as well as latent fingerprints the Defense Department collects from terrorist safe houses or battlefields.

“This change will allow for improved security at the nation’s borders by providing more information to verify a person's identity, make the process faster and more accurate, and improve the nation's ability to identify terrorists and other dangerous persons,” FBI spokesperson Paul Bresson told Aitoro. “Full interoperability between the two databases will ensure information is maintained within each repository consistent with each agency's mission, while allowing direct access to information in a seamless manner.”