Dona Ana County to receive iris-scanning technology
The Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office will receive two new cameras to scan the irises of inmates, according to John Leonard, vice president of BI2 Technologies.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office rolled out three cameras with the same technology in June 2017, and has turned into one of the premium customers for BI2 Technologies, said Leonard.
EPCSO has booked 18,573 inmates into the system as of June and about 12% of the inmates have shown to be repeat offenders, said Leonard.
The cameras analyze the patterns in the iris, which are unique, unlike fingerprints, which can be altered, said Leonard.
“A lot of crimes that we've come up with here in El Paso are violent crimes of opioids and human trafficking. We've been able to identify all those people,” said Leonard.
The BI2 Technologies systems are being showcased at this year’s Southwest Border Sheriff's Coalition conference in Las Cruces. It is Leonard’s goal to have the system throughout the other 31 counties along the U.S.-Mexico border.
BI2 Technologies will donate one camera to Dona Ana County, and Dona Ana County will purchase another camera, said Leonard.
The price for one camera starts at $14,000, said Leonard, but varies depending on the technology.
The cameras will be installed in Dona Ana County in the next two weeks.
