City of Norfolk Awards Iris Biometric Recognition Technology Contract for City of Norfolk’s Sheriff’s Office

NORFOLK, Va. — The City of Norfolk, Virginia announced today that it has awarded a contract to Biometric Intelligence & Identification Technologies (BI2 Technologies) of Plymouth, Massachusetts, to provide a comprehensive, turn-key iris biometric identification system for the City of Norfolk’s Sheriff’s Office. The new iris biometric system will be used to authenticate inmate identity for any jail activity.

“We believe that the competitive procurement process we conducted ensures that the City of Norfolk and its Sheriff’s Office will receive the most advanced biometric technology available at the best possible price from the most experienced and capable company,” said Larry Yuditsky with the City of Norfolk’s Purchasing Agent’s Office.

Robert Melley, Vice President and COO of BI2 Technologies said, “We are pleased and honored to receive this contract award. The competitive procurement process used by the City of Norfolk was groundbreaking and challenging. I believe this contract award signals the beginning of two important changes for biometric recognition technologies in law enforcement agencies across the nation.”

“Groundbreaking,” Mr. Melley said, “because the City of Norfolk wanted to evaluate all biometrics - not just iris recognition or fingerprint - they truly wanted to compare the technologies. They wanted the best technology and solution. Challenging,” Melley said, “because they wanted to ensure that the City of Norfolk received the best value, from a cost perspective. I believe they accomplished both.”

Mr. Melley continued, “We believe that this procurement demonstrates that BI2 Technologies’ iris recognition biometric systems are the best solution for quickly, accurately and positively identifying offenders. We also believe that this award shows that our iris biometric systems are the most affordable and cost-effective approach any public safety agency can take.”

Iris recognition biometric technology positively determines the identity of an individual by capturing a high-resolution digital photograph of an individual’s iris. The technology can tell the difference between twins or even an individual’s right and left eye. The technology is non-intrusive. An image of the iris is captured by simply looking into the camera. The I.R.I.S.™ system was developed by Biometric Intelligence & Identification Technologies (BI2 Technologies) of Plymouth, Massachusetts.