Technology and Communication Paper

Technology and Communication Paper

GeoVonna Davis

CJA/304

March 12, 2015

Michael Morlan

Technology and Communication Paper

Introduction

The most crucial element of everyday life is communication; this allows people to convey information to each other. In today’s society, technology has revolutionized communication techniques with new advances. The keen use of technology in the criminal justice system has demonstrated to be of tremendous help in various areas of the field. Technology within the criminal justice system has modified the communication capabilities with specializes databases. The addition of computer systems in criminal justice has vastly enhanced the common communication between agencies as the new way of passing over information between departments (Wallace, H., & Roberson, C., 2009). Also, it has become more proficient in its technique; it is to a great extent much simpler to attain data at a more rapid rate, therefore, rapidly speeding up the time it takes to hinder or solve crimes. The purpose of this paper is to compare two types of specialized databases, in the biometrics system such as: AFIS and Live Scan and how technology affects the communication capabilities of specialized databases in the criminal justice system. 

Biometrics

Biometrics is used to categorize and identify human characteristics. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) biometrics are the measurable biological (anatomical and physiological) or behavioral characteristics used for identification of an individual. Biometrics is usually collected using a device called a sensor. The sensor is used to convert data to a digital form. The quality of sensor has an impact on the recognition results (NSTC, 2006).  The process of the biometric system is collection, extraction, comparison, and decision. Collection is to collect biometrics traits using a sensor. Extractions convert the digital data and the distinctive features into a template. The comparison steps compare the distinctive features of the template to those in the biometric database. Based on the likeliness the system decided if the template matches another template in the database.

IAFIS/AFIS

Fingerprints are the most common biometrics and automated database system used in criminal justice (FBI, 2015). Biometrics fingerprinting works because fingerprints are unique to each individual. People are born with different valleys and ridges in their fingers. Fingers prints can show whether someone touched a gun or disarmed a bomb. The FBI is a long leader in biometrics and has a system know as the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). The system is a national database for fingerprints, mug shots, tattoos, scars, physical characteristics and criminal history. This system is available to all law enforcement at the local, state, and federal level. It contains over 70 millions subjects’ fingerprints, 34 million civil prints, and 73,000 known and suspected terrorist fingerprints. The average response time for a fingerprint submission is 27 minutes. IAFIS is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (FBI, 2015).