PNP’s new fingerprints system to improve crime solution efficiency

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is eyeing to improve crime solution efficiency through the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) it unveiled Wednesday.

Police chief Superintendent Augusto Marquez, Jr., deputy director of the Directorate for investigation and Detective Management (DIDM), said the AFIS has a capacity to store five million data of fingerprints — a significant improvement from the old system that can only store one million.

“Itong pag-hightech natin ng equipment is more of increasing our crime solution and crime clearance efficiency,” Marquez said.

Chief Superintendent Ma. Theresa Ann Cid, director of the PNP Crime Laboratory, said the system is capable of comparing up to 10 “nominees” or data which are most similar to the fingerprints encoded from a suspect.

Cid said they are planning to operate 24/7 to hasten the encoding of fingerprints data in the AFIS.

“We have some good stories... We are able to link suspects who have committed crimes to other crimes so yun ang kagandahan ng ating AFIS,” she said.

In a "Balitanghali" report, Cid said the AFIS database currently has 761,000 fingerprints and has resolved 349 cases as of its inauguration.

PNP officials said the government spent P270 million for Phase 2 of the AFIS project while Phase 1, which cost P500 million, was provided for by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Marquez said that later on, all police stations nationwide will be equipped with biometric scanners to take fingerprints data and be able to access them real-time. That is, if the procurement for such equipment will be included in the national budget, he said.

“Unlike sa nakaaraan ipapadala pa dito and then sasabihin ng crime lab, nasa papel yon, hindi mabasa yung kinuha mo...tapos sasabihin, wala na po yung suspect, nakapagbail na, yun, unsolved yung kaso, wala nang ebidensya,” he said.

Marquez said the PNP is also looking into establishing a National Police Clearance System, a database which allows the release of police clearances regardless of the location of the applicant. —Kathrina Charmaine Alvarez and Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News