| In 1979, the Montgomery County Police Department joined with the Prince George's County Police Department to begin one of the nation's first regional automated fingerprint identification systems, known as RAFIS.
In 1982, the Metropolitan Police Department purchased a system and established the DC Automated Fingerprint Identification System (DC-AFIS). That system now serves the Metropolitan Police Department, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the U.S. Park Police.
In 1983, several jurisdictions in Northern Virginia entered into an agreement to purchase an AFIS system and it became the backbone of the Northern Virginia Automated Regional Identification System (NOVARIS). NOVARIS now serves the police departments of Fairfax County, Fairfax City, Arlington County, Alexandria City, Prince William County, Herndon, Vienna and Falls Church City, as well as the United States Secret Service. In 1998, MD-RAFIS became a partner with NOVARIS, joining their databases in a single location.
NOVARIS, MD-RAFIS and DC-AFIS have worked aggressively to improve and enhance interoperability at a regional level. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, law enforcement agencies have determined that terrorists rely on a variety of traditional crimes such as credit card theft and fraud, larceny, identity theft, document theft and forgery to finance and advance terrorist plots. The success of NCR-AFIS in identifying suspects and persons across jurisdictional boundaries is important in the fight against crime, gang violence, and terrorism.
Early in 2004, the three regional systems were notified that effective December 2006 their systems would be declared obsolete and would no longer be serviced or maintained. Once appraised of what was deemed an emergency, the localities agreed to develop strategies to seek monetary support through Federal, State and local sources.
In researching the capabilities of the next generation AFIS systems, it was determined that the new systems would provide an unprecedented level of interoperability, a vastly increased search speed and improved imaging capability. Police agencies in MD, DC and VA began an effort to identify available funding to establish a truly integrated regional system. As a result of support from the agencies within the National Capitol Region, an Urban Area Security Grant was secured for 8.4 million dollars.
The approval will enable a robust, fully integrated National Capital Region identification system (NCR-AFIS) by funding the necessary equipment in DC, MD and VA. The upgraded biometric technologies will provide palm print capture, identification of palm and fingerprints, increased speed in processing and improved algorithms for interoperable search. As a result of advances in biometrics, the new system also will incorporate the use of LiveScan and Mugshot capabilities. With this enhancement, officers and detectives in the field will be able to tap the resources of this regional fingerprint identification system.
Project Director:
Second Lieutenant J. Vincent Byrd
Phone: (703) 246-2057
Email: Vince.Byrd@fairfaxcounty.gov
System Manager:
MPO David Russell
Fingerprint Specialists:
Ms. Sheila Sterner
Mr. Kerry Meushaw
Mr. Gerald Cole
Mr. William Reeves
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