The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has developed a handheld fingerprint acquisition device to assist the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) with the identity management of offenders.
The devices have been rolled out to DCS facilities, the CSIR said in its 2023/24 annual report, explaining that the DCS is using the scanner to compare the fingerprints of a person brought to a correctional facility from court to those on the warrant of detention form.
As part of a partnership agreement, the CSIR has piloted the fingerprint scanner at Kgosi Mampuru Prison in Pretoria and the Johannesburg Prison.
The fingerprint device is a standalone contactless unit equipped with a standard digital camera used to verify an individual’s identity.
Developed by CSIR biometrics experts, the device can be used for various tasks requiring fingerprint comparison, such as remand management, where an offender awaiting trial is held in a prison.
It can also be used to identify and count offenders during roll calls and verify identities during community correctional visits. The device partitions transactions based on the deployment location.
Although initially developed for the department, the device can also be used to verify motorists’ identities when stopped by traffic officials by comparing their fingerprints to those on a driver’s licence; or on a loaded database.
The CSIR has also developed a laser-based fingerprint acquisition device. According to Dr Motodi Maserumule, Divisional Group Executive: Mining Manufacturing, Defence & Security at the CSIR, the technology acquires fingerprints from the lower epidermis (the epidermis is the skin’s outermost layer, and is composed of several strata). The CSIR’s Information and Cybersecurity Research Centre and the laser centre developed the technology, which has evolved from a large machine to a small device.
Maserumule explained that similar technology can also pick up partial fingerprints from a crime scene, but there are many other applications. One of these is in forensic pathology. Biometric sensors are used to acquire fingerprints from cadavers, which are then digitally queried against various databases to determine their identity.
This system was rolled out in July 2023 at five Forensic Pathology Services facilities in Gauteng (Bronkhorstspruit, Johannesburg, Diepkloof, Pretoria and Germiston) and one in Limpopo as part of a nationwide pilot to aid in the identification of unclaimed cadavers.
The system was developed in collaboration with the Gauteng Department of Health and the Forensic Pathology Services and aims to improve identification turnaround times and reduce the burden of storing unidentified cadavers for extended periods – with the financial assistance of the Centre for Public Service Innovation, the CSIR said in its annual report.
The system interfaces with databases administered by different government entities using their official interfaces. For instance, the local criminal records centre of the South African Police Service (SAPS) uses the SAPS Form 91A for fingerprint queries. Traditionally, forensic pathology services personnel used inkpads to deposit fingerprints on the form for courier to SAPS.
The CSIR and Forensic Pathology Services have digitised the form used to query fingerprints, integrated multiple fingerprint sensors and tied in the credentials of the querying official. The functionality to query against the database of the Department of Home Affairs has also been demonstrated.
The system will alleviate the pressure on resource-constrained forensic mortuaries, which handle countless unclaimed and unidentified bodies. The system will be rolled out to the rest of the country as part of the pilot programme, the CSIR said.
