U.S. Gov Has Forensic Library Of Oem's Ink And Toner

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U.S. Gov Has Forensic Library Of Oem’s Ink And Toner

DHS hands forensic library of ink and toner data to ICE

By: Mark Rockwell

In a move that ICE officials said will help federal and local governments better identify fake documents and perform other forensic operations, DHS has handed a database of toner and ink information over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations said on Feb. 19 that it took ownership of the searchable database from the DHS Science and Technology Directorate on January 30.

The Searchable Toner and Printing Ink Library database system was created in partnership between Science and Technology Directorate and the Ames Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy. It provides the HSI Forensic Laboratory and other federal, state, local, tribal and international law enforcement agencies with the capability to identify and analyze printed evidence by matching them with an archive of known print media samples, said ICE.

"The casework associated with printing inks and toners continues to expand, and this library makes forensic document analysis possible across law enforcement laboratories,” said Dr. Kai-Dee Chu, program manager of the Resilient Systems Division of DHS’ Science and Technology Directorate. “It will assist law enforcement officers to rapidly identify suspected fraudulent documents and link such items with comparable documents associated with other criminal incidents, locations, materials or individuals."

According to Chu, the library has an ink and toner database that can be used to identify fraudulent documents by tracing their origins.

"This project gives law enforcement previously unsearchable data that will help officers more effectively combat travel and identity document fraud," he said. "The transition to ICE is the first step in rollout of the database to the broader law enforcement community."

The searchable database has improved matching times from weeks to minutes, according to ICE. "There was no such forensic database for printing inks and no systematically established methodologies to rigorously analyze fraudulent documents," Chu said. "The Searchable Toner and Printing Ink Library … enables identification of suspected samples with much higher confidence."

Chu explained that the capability that the library brings to ICE fills a very important technology gap that has been identified by the general forensic community. He went on to explain that the HSI Forensic Laboratory has already started to field inquiries about the technology.

"The Homeland Security Investigations Forensic Laboratory is already receiving inquiries and requests from state and local law enforcement to help analyze suspected documents," he said.

In addition to attendees from ICE, forensic scientists from the U.S. Secret Service, National Institute of Justice and FBI participated in the ceremonial handover of the database, said ICE.

"There is a very high interest from the forensic community wanting to collaborate and further mature this technology," Chu said.

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March 7, 2013 at 11:05 AM