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Police Boosts Crime Fighting Capabilities with E-Fit Software

June 2, 2009

The Full Story

The crime fighting capabilities of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) have been boosted, through the acquisition of computers to generate facial composites of likely suspects.
This was revealed by officer in the Video Identification Unit at the Central Police Station, downtown Kingston, Constable Verdaine Wright, in an interview with JIS News about the newly acquired Electronic Facial Identification Technique (E-FIT) software.
Constable Wright was speaking during the demonstration of the equipment at the Central Police Station on Monday (June 1). He told JIS News that the equipment allows the police to create facial sketches, based on the memory of victims and witnesses and that its level of accuracy is up to 90 per cent
“We can get up to 90 per cent closeness, as it relates to likeness to the actual perpetrator,” he asserted. He also outlined that this acuity enables the force to save time and money in searching for perpetrators.
“The closeness, in terms of identifying these perpetrators by using this system, enables the police force to narrow down its search, saving time and money in trying to identify suspects,” he explained.
“The system is so easy to use and friendly to the public, it can be shared across various networks and media bases, allowing the public to assist the police in their search for criminals,” he added.
Constable Wright said that the high-end equipment allows the police to carry out their tasks in quick time.
“The E-FIT system is so versatile, due to the fact that it is on a laptop. Wherever a victim or witness may be, they can be accessed and it is done on a timely basis,” he pointed out.
The E-FIT system enables the police to create composites from different sections of the face, such as the eye, ears, mouth and hair.
After the witness or victim assists the police in creating an image of the suspect, they undergo an interview process, called the cognitive interviewing process. This process allows the artist to take from the witness or victim’s memory up to 40 per cent more information than traditional interviewing techniques would be able to.
The E-FIT system was developed in 1986 by British computer scientists and psychologists. The system has a database similar to the promat of persons of different ethnicity. This system can also assist the police to create mixed races.

Last Updated: August 26, 2013

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