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July 19, 2006 –* Biometric Intelligence & Identification Technologies (BI(2) Technologies) announced on Monday the launch of the first U.S. sex offender database using iris biometric technology.
The Massachusetts-based company partnered with the Sheriff’s department of Mecklenburg County, NC to install the nation’s first iris biometric Sex Offender Registry and Identification System, otherwise known as SORIS.
Named the "quickest and most accurate identification technology available," in BI(2) Technologies’ press release, the SORIS system has already been implemented in 20 states to locate missing persons. That same technology, derived from Iridian Technologies, is now being applied to tracking sexual predators.
With a BM-ET330 Iris Reader, produced by Panasonic Security Systems, an iris camera takes a high resolution digital photograph of the eye. The non-evasive camera produces the photo with a unique code that will then be entered into the registry. The SORIS technology is based on the principal that no two irises are alike, even between twins.
With 566,782 registered sex offenders in the U.S., according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the SORIS acts as "a tool for protecting children by quickly identifying registered sex offenders in our community," said NC Sheriff Jim Pendergraph in the new release.
All 50 states require convicted sex offenders to be registered and local communities to be notified in accordance with Megan’s Law, passed in 1996.
"The eyes never lie," said BI(2) Technologies President and CEO Sean Mullins about the SORIS system.