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More than 22,000 individuals move through the Pennsylvania parole system — and the responsibility of supervising these offenders falls under the Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole.
The Pennsylvania Board of Probation & Parole (PBPP) depends not only on its own files and data to maintain accurate records, but also shares information with other law enforcement organizations. And that's where IDenticard is lending a hand.
This year, several of these law enforcement organizations were invited to participate in an effort to create a statewide digital photo system, establishing a "start-to-end" photo file, which follows the offender throughout the criminal justice system. Faced with some potential limitations in purchasing an existing, older, more expensive system, the PBPP searched for a more cost-effective, state-of-the-art, ODBC compliant system, which would at the same time adhere to state-mandated standards and budgeting.
"It was crucial that the new system provide us with the capabilities to modify applications to fit our environment," said Tom Bachman, Director of Bureau of Information Technology. "We were looking to invest in a system that would be completely open to our specific needs and would enable us to continue our drive forward with technology."
Modifying the IDenticard System
After analyzing several vendors' products and viewing demonstrations, the agency was introduced to IDenticard's IVIS Plus 2000 digital imaging system, and, according to Bachman, "a light went on." Most importantly, the IVIS Plus system was completely modifiable and compatible with the agency's platform of systems integration.
"One of our goals was to be able to store numerous photos of the same offender," explains Bachman. The PBPP wanted the capability to store and distribute a variety of photos for any one individual because of one very important fact: looks are easy to change.
"Growing or shaving off a mustache, coloring or shaving off hair, and adding eyeglasses can all dramatically change an individual's appearance," explained Bachman. "Tattoos, distinguishing scars and or marks are equally as important." Now, in the event an individual commits a new offense or absconds, PBPP can distribute several photographs of the offender to help law enforcement officers by providing several different previous appearances of the individual. With the modified IVIS Plus system, the PBPP can now capture, download, and maintain an endless number of photos of each offender.
The PBPP integrated the IDenticard system into their Intranet. "Writing and modifying programs that allow the photos to seamlessly integrate into our business were key to meeting some very particular needs of the PBPP," stated Systems Director Mike Schellhammer. In-house information technology staff successfully adapted and modified the system to use digital photos, while modifying the IVIS Plus system to fit directly in the PBPP data warehouse.
Networking data
The PBPP installed and deployed the agency's Digital Capture System in less than six months in their twenty-four statewide parole offices. Each office has a fast Ethernet connected Digital Capture WorkStation, including the IDenticard IVIS Plus imaging system and digital camera, a 500mhz PC, 17" color monitor, hi-speed color laser printer, 18% gray background paper, and 3-point lighting.
In-house information technology staff rewrote the IVIS Plus program so all photos can be downloaded and accessible through the network environment. These photos cannot be modified and are not stored with data information, to prevent any unauthorized individuals from being able to identify or tamper with any photographs.
In-house information technology staff also developed an application that overlays a grid on the image viewed on the monitor to help ensure that each photo taken with the IVIS Plus imaging system meets mandatory National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards. The program also earmarks photos that don't meet these standard requirements and labels them as "RETAKE." Utilizing the IVIS Plus system and the PBPP developed/modified programs, PBPP is now actually exceeding NIST standard requirements and the system also allows for customization at each individual site.
"Rapid development, rapid deployment, easy modifications and no huge maintenance contracts are some of the biggest benefits of the system," said Bachman. "We now can cost-effectively accomplish what we need the system to do. We now have the technology to keep moving toward the future and to expand the system for multiple uses in areas of identification."
Bachman anticipates integrating the IVIS Plus system with access control, personnel records and administrative offices and in two to three years, foresees additional applications including PBPP being able to feed images directly to laptop computers in squad cars.
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