Caretaker Prime Minister Mohammadmian Soomro on Friday launched a multi-million rupees Pakistan's Automated Fingerprint Identification System (Pafis) at the FIA Headquarters to provide a centralised database of fingerprints to swiftly help hunt down criminals and terrorists.
He termed it an historic occasion and "a quantum leap to provide better and effective policing". The system would eventually be integrated with the country's border control Personal Identification Secure Comparison and Evaluation System (Pisces), and a forensic laboratory will help the investigators in their task.
The system, having a central database at Islamabad, is hooked up to remote stations in 52 districts of the country, having access to 122,000 fingerprints of criminals that is being upgraded to 440,000 prints, providing top-of-the-line biometrics identification technology.
The Prime Minister said that use of technology is vital for capacity building of police officials and to help them train better, investigate and track down the perpetrators in an efficient manner. He stressed the need to have a better working environment for the law enforcing personnel, and said that it was vital to keep them properly motivated.
He said that Nadra's large database can be used by the new system of fingerprints kept with the banks and other institutions. Soomro stressed for broader involvement of the community, providing e-governance and online access to the police to effectively deal with criminals and terrorists.
He was appreciative of US assistance in the project and said that the two countries would continue with intelligence sharing and collaboration in fighting crimes. Interior Minister Hamid Nawaz Khan said there was a need to "re-invent" the police with greater interaction with the community. He said it was important for police to enter a sort of service contract with the people to enhance their trust in them.
Interior Secretary Kamal Shah, DG National Police Bureau Dr Shoaib Suddle, Deputy Chief of US Mission to Pakistan Peter Bodde, CEO of Interactive Group Shahid Mahmood and DG FIA Tariq Pervaiz gave details of the project.
The Pafis project, beginning in 2005, will enable the law enforcement agencies a quick comparison from the database, through fibre and satellite linkage, a task that otherwise took weeks or even a month. Peter Bodde said the US State Department has provided $13 million for the project and the collaboration would continue for another year to provide reliable, on-line data. He said it would "multiply the capability of law enforcement agencies" and was part of US support to improve police service of Pakistan.
The Federal Investigative Agency is using Lockheed Martin's fingerprint identification system to quickly identify suspected criminals. Pafis is a variant of a similar system used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the US Department of Defence. The remaining 80 districts will be connected to the Central Site in the second phase beginning in June this year.
The Automated Fingerprint Identification System will later be integrated with Police Record and Office Management Information System (PROMIS), National Forensic Science Agency and will be followed by provision of a nation-wide Integrated Radio Communication System for Police.
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