Texas County taps Motorola for fingerprint ID upgrade

Motorola Inc. won a $5.9 million contract from Harris County, Texas, to provide the county with an automated fingerprint identification network, the company announced this week.

Under the contract, Motorola of Schaumberg, Ill., will upgrade the county's automated fingerprint identification system and provide the new fingerprint and palm print database search and photo imaging technologies. The Harris County Sheriff's Department will use Omnitrak, an automated fingerprint and palm print identification system.

The contract includes the purchase of nine new LiveScan Station 3000s, an automated booking management system designed to capture palm prints, slap impressions and rolled fingerprint images. LiveScan enables law enforcement officials to identify individuals through a rapid search against multiple databases.

The project will be completed in two phases. The first phase is scheduled for completion by late 2003. The company did not provide an estimated completion date for the second phase.

Future plans may include implementation of a regional automated fingerprint identification system, expansion to adjacent counties and mobile fingerprinting capabilities in patrol cars.

Harris County, which is one of the largest counties in the nation, has a population of more than 3.4 million.

Motorola, a provider of integrated communications and information solutions, has more than 111,000 employees and had annual revenue of $26.7 billion in 2002.