Iris Scans Aim to Identify Lost Kids
Iris scans aim to identify lost kids Wednesday, November 30, 2005 WILSONVILLE -- The Clackamas and Marion county sheriff's offices on Tuesday unveiled new iris-scanning technology -- similar to fingerprinting -- that they hope will better and more quickly identify missing children. The iris is the distinctive, pigmented portion of the eye that encircles the pupil. The two counties will be the first in Oregon to scan the irises and enter them into the national Children's Identification and Location Database. If a missing child is found, authorities will be able to positively identify any child in the database. The technology is a dozen times more accurate than fingerprinting, according to the Child Project, an organization devoted to creating the national database. "From age 1 to the day you die, your iris will never change," said Deputy Mark Koberstein, who heads crime prevention for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office is buying two scanning systems with a $56,000 grant from the federal Bureau of Justice Assistance. Marion County received a bureau grant for $25,000 to pay for one of the systems. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office plans to offer free iris-scanning for children four times a year, starting with its next child-identification fair Jan. 14 at the Public Safety Training Center, 12700 S.E. 82nd Ave. During the fair, the office also will continue to offer parents free fingerprinting, photographs and DNA collection for their children. http://www.oregonlive.com/metrosouth/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_south_news/1133317517264350.xml&coll=7