The FBI has awarded Leidos a $129.7 million contract for its CJIS Biometric Services program. This five-and-a-half-year deal aims to enhance fingerprint identification systems crucial for law enforcement and national security. Leidos has a history with the FBI and has been integral in developing key biometric technologies such as NGI and AFIS, and this contract reinforces their role in modernizing FBI capabilities.
The FBI has awarded a substantial contract worth nearly $130 million to Leidos. This five-and-a-half-year deal is aimed at bolstering the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division’s Biometric Services program, specifically the Fingerprint Analysis Support Team (FAST). This move highlights the FBI’s ongoing efforts to modernize its biometric identification processes and strengthens Leidos’ role as a significant player in federal law enforcement technology.
This contract comes after another notable award in April, when Fusion Technology secured a $159.8 million contract for Law Enforcement Support Services under CJIS. Leidos has been engaged with CJIS since 2016, proposing agile methodologies to improve collaboration between their development teams and the CJIS test teams. Basically, they’ve been embedding a more responsive development style into the software creation process, which has allowed for better teamwork over a couple of years.
Since 2018, Leidos has been instrumental in developing the Next Generation Identification (NGI) system. This high-tech biometric system serves the FBI, along with various state and local agencies, providing a robust database of biometric information. Significant updates from NGI include the Repository for Individuals of Special Concerns and the Rap Back service that keeps track of public trust individuals and updates law enforcement agencies on any changes in their criminal status.
Leidos isn’t new to this scene; they also created the FBI’s Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS), which processes finger scans as part of the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). CJIS, operating out of Clarksburg, West Virginia, is where the FBI keeps its core biometric databases which support nationwide identification in both criminal and law enforcement efforts.
As the types of threats become more sophisticated, the FBI is really pushing to modernize its systems to guarantee efficient and accurate identifications. This new contract with Leidos is essential in achieving that overhaul. Initially funded with $21.3 million, the contract is part of the General Services Administration’s procurement structure and emerged after a competitive bidding process. Leidos was chosen over two other competitors, which indicates the level of trust in their capabilities.
The FAST program encapsulates a big shift in how the FBI approaches biometric services. Leidos’ tasks will revolve around boosting the processing and analysis of fingerprint data. They’ll also be ensuring round-the-clock operational capabilities and supporting the refinement of next-gen automation and accuracy in biometric recognition. This isn’t just about crime-solving; the CJIS data plays a role in national security and international investigations too.
Leidos will be improving systems that are interconnected with Interpol databases and vital border security frameworks. This contract reflects the company’s longer-term strategy of syncing its tech services with national security goals, which has been a hallmark of Leidos’ work with different defense and intelligence agencies. Their involvement with CJIS extends into law enforcement, bolstering the FBI’s readiness to tackle both ongoing and new threats.
The Leidos and CJIS partnership underscores a growing reliance on private companies by U.S. law enforcement for crucial identification systems as technology moves so fast that sometimes the government can’t quite keep up. This trend in outsourcing, particularly in the biometrics space, highlights how critical private-sector integration is becoming in the public safety sector.
In summary, Leidos’ new $130 million contract with the FBI is a key step in enhancing biometric identification capabilities within the CJIS Division. Their ongoing collaboration has already proven fruitful in improving systems like NGI and AFIS, marking a pivotal evolution in how the FBI processes biometric data. This development signals not just a commitment to combat crime but also reflects a trend towards relying on private-sector expertise to manage complex security systems.
Original Source: www.biometricupdate.com
