For Immediate Release
August 10, 1999

Washington D.C.
FBI National Press Office

FBI Director Louis J. Freeh today inaugurated the full operation of the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), a new advanced technology system that will provide major enhancements in the fight against crime.

IAFIS provides Federal, state and local criminal justice agencies the ability to electronically transmit fingerprint information, vastly improving response time.

In the past, criminal justice agencies had to mail paper fingerprint cards to the FBI for processing. After the cards were received, a semi-automated system was used to classify the fingerprints and compare them against the fingerprint cards in the FBI's repository. Because the FBI fingerprint file contains more than 34 million cards-a figure comparable to 18 stacks as tall as the Empire State Building in New York City- the identification process sometimes took weeks to complete.

IAFIS will compare the submitted images with its huge database of fingerprints, and respond within two hours. The response will include a complete criminal history of the person, if one exists. Even if the person fingerprinted provides false identification, IAFIS will make a positive identification by matching fingerprints.

Director Freeh said, "Timely identification information is particularly crucial in instances where a person has been charged with a crime and is awaiting a bail hearing. In the past, many fugitives from justice and hardened criminals were released and fled before their set court dates because the criminal history information was not available prior to the hearing. The rapid response time that IAFIS offers will nullify this problem."

In addition to criminal checks, the FBI also processes many civil fingerprint submissions. Civil submissions are those for which an FBI fingerprint check is required by law, such as for certain job applicants (teachers, child care providers, security guards and other positions of trust). IAFIS will provide responses to civil submissions within 24 hours. Before IAFIS, response times exceeded 100 days.

The FBI receives an average of 50,000 fingerprint submissions each business day. Approximately half of those submissions are criminal and the other half are civil. Of the criminal submissions, approximately 5,000 are of individuals for whom no record exists at the FBI, or in other words, first time arrests.

Initially, about 15 states and several Federal agencies will be submitting fingerprint images electronically. A number of states are in the final development and testing of their own systems that will electronically connect with the FBI and expect to be online in the next 12 months. For those states without electronic submissions, the FBI has contracted with Lockheed Martin Information Services to provide card-scanning services that will prepare paper fingerprint submissions for electronic insertion into IAFIS. While those responses will take longer to receive than those offered to electronic submissions, the electronic scanning and comparison of these cards will allow for a faster turnaround time than previously available, an average of about eight days.

The IAFIS was developed and implemented at a cost of $640 million. It was developed in six increments or "builds." It consists of three integrated segments: the Automated Fingerprint Identification System developed by Lockheed Martin; the Interstate Identification System developed by Science Applications International Corporation; and Identification Tasking and Networking developed by Litton PRC. Lockheed Martin Integration Testing was responsible for the successful integration of IAFIS' three major segments and its six "builds."

The FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division, headed by Assistant Director in Charge James V. DeSarno, Jr., was responsible for oversight of IAFIS system development and implementation. The CJIS Division, located in Clarksburg, West Virginia, is responsible for system operation and maintenance.

Mr. DeSarno stated, "The successful implementation of IAFIS is the culmination of a 10-year joint project between the FBI and law enforcement representatives from across the country. With this project, the FBI is now poised to enter the 21st century at the forefront of criminal justice information systems technology. This quicker and more efficient identification technology will contribute to a safer America."

Director Freeh said, "IAFIS is the latest in a recent series of major technological advancements that will revolutionize law enforcement's ability to better serve and protect the American people."

"The IAFIS is one of four new major technology systems that will equip law enforcement with tools of immense value to combat and prevent a variety of the worst kinds of crimes," Freeh stated.

Besides IAFIS, the three other systems are: The National DNA Index System, which allows for electronic interstate comparison and exchange of DNA profiles, introduced in October, 1998, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, as part of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, in November, 1998, and NCIC-2000, another criminal records enhancement system serving 80,000 criminal justice agencies, announced earlier this month.