Border Patrol Certifies New Virtual Fence Deployment
The Border Patrol earlier in March told Congress that it’s new fixed surveillance tower deployment in a portion of Arizona meets its operational requirements, a milestone that permits Customs and Border Protection to begin deploying the Integrated Fixed Tower (IFT) system in another area of the southwest border. The first IFT deployment occurred last year in Nogales, Ariz., and was followed by limited user testing before the Border Patrol began to operate its new surveillance network ahead of the recent certification. CBP said the certification measure the Border Patrol “conditionally accepts IFTS.” The Border Patrol on March 1 notified congressional appropriations committees of the certification. Border Patrol Chief Ronald Vitiello says that the certification means the “IFT program meets its operational requirements. This decision is based on a review of test results and agent feedback from the IFT deployment in Nogales. Test result s and agent feedback confirm that the IFT system adds surveillance capability, increasing situational awareness and officer safety.” CBP has begun deployment of the next IFT units in the Douglass, Ariz., area of operations. Additional deployments will be based on the Border Patrol’s needs. A Texas-based division of Israel’s Elbit Systems [ESLT] is the prime contractor for IFT.
Vision-Box Technology Part of CBP Facial Comparison Testing at JFK
Vision-Box says it is provide the core biometric technology as part of a facial recognition technology deployment by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at John. F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Unisys [UIS] is the system integrator for the project, which uses cameras to photograph people and then automatically match the travelers’ faces to the facial image on their passport’s e-chip, helping to prevent document swapping. Vision Box is supplying its VB E-Pass Desktop as part of the solution, which is deployed at three arrival terminals at the airport and was successfully tested last year at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. After authenticating and reading the chip of the traveler’s electronic passport, Vision-Box’ VB E-Pass Desktop takes a biometric quality photo of the passenger’s face, matches the captured facial image against the photo stored in the e-passport, and gives a probability match based on multiple facial features. If the image match probability is low, a person may be flagged for additional screening. “The deployed solution completes the life-cycle loop of the e-passport by providing reliable means of checking that the passport belongs to the holder, thus helping address a significant security threat of document swapping with the unfortunate precedents documented in other parts of the world,” says Michael Petrov, Vision-Box’ managing director for North America. “It was reported, for example, that a known Australian jihadist was able to leave Australia for the battlefield in Syria using his brother’s passport. His travel could have been prevented with the use of vb e-pass desktop.” Vision-Box says that the facial comparison deployment is an important step forward in conducting biometric verification of every person requesting admission to the U.S.
FBI Certifies AMREL’s Handheld Fingerprint Device
AMREL says that it has received FBI certification for its handheld XP7-ID fingerprint device, which was developed in cooperation with Integrated Biometrics. “This is an important milestone not just for us, but for the security and law enforcement community,” says Richard Lane, vice president of Strategic Business Development at AMREL. “This certification will expand access to the XP7-ID, which is quite simply the most rugged highly integrated biometric smartphone in the world.” The certification means the device is in compliance with the FBI’s Next Generation Identification System Image Quality Specifications. The devices includes Integrated Biometrics’ Sherlock module that utilize a light emitting sensor for high quality fingerprint capture in the field.
Qognify Launches VisionHub Vision Management Platform
Qognify has introduced VisionHub, what it calls a next-generation web-based video management solution, an open platform that leverages video as the main sensor in the control center while integrated third party access control systems using a dedicated module. The platform also provides two-way integrations with other third-party security systems such as fire and intrusion detection, enabling a unified, map-centric common operating picture that provides situational awareness and increased efficiency. The security management system also offers incident management capabilities for effective response and on-the-fly adaptation of procedures and collaboration between all relevant stakeholders. The system also easily accommodates Qognify’s fully-integrated video analytics suite, including the Suspect Search application.