Uganda Police Plan $4M Biometric Forensic System To Tighten Security

By Our Reporter

Uganda police authorities say more resources are needed to continue the installation of its biometric forensic system as part of its efforts to effectively fight criminality in the East African country.

Local reports quoted Police director in charge of operations speaking recently at a public event to commission a forensic capabilities component based on face biometrics under the national CCTV project, of the need to extend an automated forensic biometrics capacity to all the 161 police divisions and districts in the country.

This, the official was quoted as saying, will require about UGX15.2 billion (roughly US$4 million).

The system, known as the Criminal Automated Biometric Identification System (CABIS), allows police officials to match biometric features such as fingerprints, palmprints, face and iris images collected from offenders to identify crime suspects.

The top police official, AIGP Edward Ochom, stressed the importance of CABIS, saying it would be very useful in helping the police track down repeat offenders easily. He also expressed hopes that the new forensic DNA capabilities system which has just been launched will receive the necessary funding in order to meet the objective for which it was put in place.

The police director in charge of forensics says the forensic biometrics system has so far been installed in 14 police divisions in the metropolitan area of the capital Kampala, and has been helping Interpol in identifying crime suspects and issuing good character clearance certificates, among other achievements.

The police have explained that the DNA capabilities system will work in tandem with CABIS.

These steps, they say, fall in line with President Yoweri Museveni’s wish of seeing the Ugandan police use modern technology for intelligence information gathering in order to better fight crime.

Reports emerged late last year that Ugandan police have used the facial recognition system on CCTV surveillance cameras to commit human rights abuses.