The Next-Generation Identification (NGI) system will replace the fingerprint database the bureau currently uses and will take several years and cost the federal government $1 billion to implement, Nextgov reported. The new system will compare a subject's features in the photo to mug shots in law enforcement databases.
Law enforcement personnel often "have a photo of a person and for whatever reason they just don't know who it is [but they realize] this is clearly the missing link to our case," Nick Megna, a unit chief at the FBI's criminal justice information services division, told Nextgov.
NGI is an improvement over the bureau's existing Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System as it eliminates the need for law enforcement personnel to know the name of a suspect before pulling up the individual's mug shot. The new program will allow officers to upload a photo and the system will retrieve up to 50 comparable mug shots for the officer to inspect.
FBI will launch the program in Michigan, Washington, Florida and North Carolina in January before offering it to law enforcement agents nationwide in 2014, officials told Nextgov.
