The FBI has announced that it has completed the digitization of millions of finger print cards, criminal history folders and civil identity files filling taking up several large warehouses (over 30 million records and 83 million fingerprint cards) in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
The conversion comes as the FBI fully activates its Next Generation Identification (NGI) system utilizing biometric and other types of identity information.
The FBI said it would rely on the new system, which is incrementally replacing the Bureau’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, or IAFIS, to better serve law enforcement agencies checking criminal histories and fingerprints, veterans, government employees, and the FBI’s own Laboratory.
“It makes those records immediately accessible to law enforcement across the country,” said Penny Harker, who runs the Biometric Services Unit at the Criminal Justice Information Services.
