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Corps wants better biometric ID device

U.S. forces have fielded more than 4,000 Polaroid camera-sized biometric detection devices that scan, track and identify potential terrorists, but Marine officials say they’re not happy with the system and are seeking a next-generation solution.

The Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment devices were fielded in 2006 for use by U.S. forces during neighborhood patrols. The camera scans fingerprints or irises in an effort to find insurgents.

The devices connect to a remote Defense Department database called the Automated Biometric Information System, which gathers identification data from U.S. and coalition partners.

The HIIDEs are part of an Army and Marine effort to improve the collection and use of biometric identification data. In December, a Pentagon and Army task force issued a three-year contract called Biometrics Operations and Support Services-Unrestricted. Worth $479 million, it allows 12 firms to compete to handle biometric-related tasks, missions and functions.

Biometrics technologies already are aiding deployed forces, said retired Vice Adm. Albert Calland, executive vice president of CACI International, one of the 12 firms.

“If you go into a house in Iraq and Afghanistan, you need to be able to find out who is who,” Calland said. “You may have a latent fingerprint from an IED — maybe their fingerprint matches someone.”

Detainees’ fingerprints and iris scans are checked against databases that contain the biometric identities of bomb builders and terrorists. There have been numerous matches. U.S. troops used them to catch more than 400 “high-value individuals” in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2008.

“We’ve been very successful at catching bad guys,” said Lisa Swan, who is deputy director of the U.S. Army’s Biometric Task Force.

Marine officials say more development is needed, however. In 2006, the Army gave the Corps 242 HIIDE devices to conduct a field user evaluation in Iraq. Members of II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., determined that HIIDE did not deliver on its promises. It had limited electronic capability, forcing units to do additional work to develop terrorist watch lists, said Jeremy Powell, head of the identity operations section within the Plans, Policies and Operations division at Marine Corps headquarters.

Marines using the HIIDE also determined that the device took a “flat” fingerprint, rather than a larger rolled fingerprint, which is considered an inferior method by the Justice Department, Powell said. The device’s optical scanner also does not always work reliably in bright daylight, he said.

“There are still a few being used in the Corps, but [operating forces] are not asking for any more,” Powell said. “They’re asking for something that meets the requirements.”