Most people don't realise that biometrics have played an important police and security role as a crime fighting tool for over 150 years. The fingerprint was recognised early as a unique biometric, and has been central to criminal identification and identity verification.

In the past however, fingerprints had to be captured with ink on paper in central booking stations, sent by mail, courier or fax to repositories to be analysed by experts, a process that takes hours or days. Now fingerprints have been joined by other biometrics, and new technologies allow biometrics to be captured in the field, for example by police on the beat. This data may be transmitted and compared instantly to criminal databases, allowing police to verify identity accurately and immediately and take action if appropriate.