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The RTID Report - Issue 2, July 2006

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…the status of improvements to the efficiency of Canada’s national fingerprint and criminal record repository

National Police Services, National Institute of Standards and Technology Interface Control Document (NPS-NIST-ICD) Version 1.7.7:

Implementing standards to improve efficiency and support interoperability

National Police Services has been working with partners and stakeholders to ensure that international technology standards are applied to support full partner-system integration and the transition to electronic processing through each stage of RTID implementation. 

The latest standard being applied is the NPS-NIST-ICD Version 1.7.7.  This version provides a specification for the electronic interface with NPSNet. The ICD implements the industry standard ANSI/NIST-ITL 1-2000 specification.  Agencies that fully implement this specification will be able to capture and transmit biometric data (fingerprint, palm print, facial/mugshot and marks, scars & tattoo images), as well as demographic data in a format compatible with NPS-NIST-ICD. Agencies will be able to submit civil, criminal, immigration and latent crime scene fingerprints for search against and possible storage in the national repository.

By providing the NPS-NIST-ICD Version 1.7.7 standard, RTID supports interoperability with all users of the fingerprint identification and criminal record services provided by NPS Canadian Criminal Real Time Identification Services (CCRTIS).  Users include the Canadian law enforcement, criminal justice and public security communities, as well as international partners, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Interpol.  Agencies already exchanging NIST transactions electronically with the RCMP will be supported until they transition to the latest ICD specification.


RTID PROJECT STATUS

Scheduling Commitments
The RTID Project consists of several teams involved in technical development, testing, administration, business process development, procurement, training, vendor liaison and external agency communications.  The work of each team is broken down to tasks.  Each task is assigned a date and forms the overall project schedule.  The project schedule consists of thousands of interdependent tasks.  Each task has to be accomplished on time and in order to ensure that the overall RTID Project delivers the new AFIS, NPS-NIST Server and NPS-NIST-ICD. 

New Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) passes Site Acceptance Test (SAT1)   
In June 2006, components of the new AFIS were installed at National Police Services to undergo the first Site Acceptance Test (SAT1).  In SAT1, the AFIS was tested in the NPS environment using the same fingerprint data used during Factory Acceptance Testing at the vendor’s location.  Over 500 functionality and feature requirements were confirmed during SAT1.  In addition, the AFIS benchmark test results from SAT1 exceeded the results from the first benchmark test that was administered to evaluate AFIS performance during the procurement process.  SAT2 will begin in August and will include testing of the converted fingerprint data, the Paper Conversion sub-system and the Remote Transcoder.

Testing continues on the early release of the NPS-NIST Server
The testing of Release 0.5 of the NPS-NIST Server (early release) is on schedule to be operational in August or early September 2006.  The two civil agencies participating in the early release have begun work to satisfy the pre-requisite certification requirement.  The certification process will verify that the agencies are able to transmit transactions compliant with the latest version of the ICD. Currently, both agencies are working on submitting fingerprint transactions to a test environment.  Development of the full version, Release 1.0, of the NPS-NIST Server will be complete in mid-August and testing will follow.

NPS-NIST Server Development Progress

Refining the NPS-NIST-ICD
The NPS-NIST Server is being tested extensively to identify any deficiencies before the system becomes operational.  Testing to date has identified a need to refine information provided in the NPS-NIST-ICD Version 1.7.7C.  The ICD is currently being modified and a new version, Version 1.7.7D, will be introduced in September.  NPS-NIST-ICD Version 1.7.7D will be distributed to all agencies that have received Version 1.7.7C or can be requested by contacting NIST_ICD_DCI@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

Sharing the RTID Experience

Senior management from the RTID Project and CCRTIS met with la Sûreté Nationale du Maroc (Moroccan Police) and the Netherlands National Policy Agency to share experiences in project planning, procurement, system development and implementation.  The exchange benefited both police agencies who are implementing new AFIS, as well as, RTID and CCRTIS.

Agency Engagement
Several Canadian police agencies have an operational AFIS or AFIS workstation to access the national fingerprint repository for ten print and latent fingerprint searching.  These agencies are members of the AFIS Working Group.  RTID will provide these agencies with a Transcoder (fall 2006) to enable access following the implementation of Phase 1.   The AFIS vendor will deliver Transcoder Training session for police agency working group members in late 2006.  Firm details will be provided once available.   

In addition to preparing the two civil agencies for Release 0.5 and law enforcement agencies having an operational AFIS or AFIS workstation for Release 1.0 migration, work is underway to assist agencies to upgrade their paper-based fingerprint submission process to an electronic process.  Certification is required for these agencies to verify that they are able to exchange electronic fingerprint transactions compliant with the latest version of the ICD.  The certification process details will be available in the fall and certification will begin in February or March 2007.

NEW POLICIES FOR FINGERPRINT SUBMISSIONS

Effective April 1, 2008
Fingerprint Services
New Policy: Palm Print Requirements
It was previously reported that palm prints will be required on all criminal, immigration and civil (employee) fingerprint submissions.  Civil palm prints are required only for RCMP employees.  The new policy is more accurately stated as palm prints will be required on all criminal, immigration and civil (RCMP employee) fingerprint submissions.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

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