TX - Sheriffs turn to eyes to help protect the border

By Aaron NelsenJuly 12, 2017

Thirty-one sheriff's offices along the U.S.-Mexico border will soon deploy a biometric wall using eyes to fight organized crime and illegal immigration on the border.

The Southwestern Border Sheriffs’ Coalition in April agreed to partner with Biometric Intelligence and Identification Technologies to install the Massachusetts-based company’s IRIS biometric identification program and system.

Val Verde Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez in Del Rio said the new system will augment the physical barrier between Mexico and Texas in fighting criminal organizations.

“While a border wall or fence is a viable solution in some locations, it is only part of the solution,” Martinez said. “Simply put, the sheriffs need the best, proven technologies to accurately and rapidly identify those who would cause our citizens harm.”

The technology takes a high-resolution image of a person’s iris, creates an individual template from that image, and then compares it against iris scans in its private database, The Intercept, a national security news site, reported. The technology can be used to determine a person’s criminal history and legal status in the country.

BI2 Technologies has provided initial funding for its BI2 program to sheriffs’ departments along the border. Biometric data will be housed in BI2’s private iris database, housed in San Antonio, and three other disaster backup facilities, The Intercept reported.

http://www.expressnews.com/news/loca...r-11284790.php