Tulsa County Sheriff Selects BIO-key® Mobile Data System
Oklahoma Law Enforcement Data Sharing Consortium Now Includes over 40 Agencies
WALL, NJ, May 13, 2009 - BIO-key International, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: BKYI), a leader in finger-based biometric identification and wireless public safety solutions, today announced a contract award from the Tulsa County, Oklahoma Sheriff’s Office for MobileCop®, BIO-key’s law enforcement mobile data solution. Using MobileCop on laptops in their vehicles, the department’s patrol deputies and investigators will for the first time have direct access to critical federal, state and local law enforcement information on a person or vehicle of interest. Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz secured federal Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) dollars to supplement local funding for the new system.
“MobileCop will allow us to do more work in the vehicle,” according to Sheriff’s Office Chief Tim Albin. “Being able to run a license plate immediately at a traffic stop, for example, without having to wait for a dispatcher to do it, makes everyone more efficient.”
The new system is hosted by the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Office, which maintains the connection to the FBI’s National Crime Information Center and other databases for more than 40 local and county law enforcement agencies, as well as troopers from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol (OHP). This arrangement reduces costs for hosted agencies, which do not have to purchase or maintain central site hardware and software.
The hosted system also provides participating agencies with a secure, scanner-proof way to communicate with each other in mutual aid situations. The Sheriff’s Office expects that this will help in the fight against narcotics and human trafficking along the I-44 corridor, which traverses Tulsa County and links the southern U.S. border with the Midwest. “MobileCop lets us share critical information with OHP and other local departments in real time, which is what interoperability is really all about,” explained Chief Albin. “The criminals we face today easily move across county lines. MobileCop arms the deputy on the road with the information needed to quickly connect the dots between suspicious activity here and an incident in another community.”
“What’s happening in Oklahoma is a model for the nation,” said Ken Souza, Senior Vice President and General Manager of BIO-key’s Law Enforcement Division. “Under the leadership of Oklahoma County Sheriff John Whetsel, state, county and local agencies have come together to build an effective regional information sharing system that puts bad guys on notice: ‘Not in Oklahoma’.”
About BIO-key
BIO-key International, Inc., headquartered in Wall, New Jersey, develops and delivers advanced identification solutions and information services to law enforcement departments, public safety agencies, government and private sector customers. BIO-key's mobile wireless technology provides first responders with critical, reliable, real-time data and images from local, state and national databases. BIO-key's high performance, scalable, cost-effective and easy-to-deploy biometric finger identification technology accurately identifies and authenticates users of wireless and enterprise data to improve security, convenience and privacy and to reduce identity theft. Over 1,000 police departments in North America use BIO-key solutions, making BIO-key the leading supplier of mobile and wireless solutions for law enforcement. (http://www.bio-key.com)
