May 29, 2003

Lansing - A new statewide repository of digital images will enhance the efforts of law enforcement to make communities safer the Michigan State Police (MSP) announced today.

The initial rollout of a central digital image repository known as S.N.A.P. (Statewide Network of Agency Photos) will create a statewide database of mugshots, scars, marks, and tattoos for law enforcement agencies. This technology, provided by DataWorks Plus LLC. out of South Carolina, will provide just one more method of matching suspects to crimes thereby aiding in the identification, apprehension, and prosecution of offenders.

According to Col. Tadarial J. Sturdivant, Director of the Michigan State Police, "Several agencies throughout the state have been capturing and storing digital images for their own jurisdictions for quite some time, however, sharing of images across jurisdictional boundaries was limited." Sturdivant went on to say, "Criminals do not recognize jurisdictional boundaries. With this new system, electronic collection and dissemination of digital criminal images will allow agencies to share information, identify suspects, and solve crimes."

As with the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), the S.N.A.P. system utilizes live-scan terminals to electronically transmit digital images to the MSP along with fingerprint submissions. After the fingerprints positively identify the offender, the images are forwarded to the central image repository where they become available to law enforcement agencies across the state through a web browser. Investigative efficiency will be greatly increased by the ability to access statewide images for searches, digital lineups, and facial recognition.

According to Sturdivant, "As the size of the image database grows, it will become more and more valuable to law enforcement agencies across the state, and connecting agencies for retrieval of images will become equally as important as connecting them for submission of images. Until then, the primary goal of this project is to focus on getting agencies to begin submitting images into the system." The system currently holds over 150,000 images and is continuing to grow.