UK Home Office awards IDENT1 support contract to Northrop

Under the £28.8m contract, the company will maintain and enhance the IDENT1 core software, an advanced identification technology that links police and justice agencies across the UK.

Northrop is leading a team consisting of Morpho, Crossmatch Technologies and Phoenix IT Services.

Northrop Grumman Information Systems civil division vice-president and general manager Ed Sturms said: "This award demonstrates our continued collaborative partnership and strong programme performance of more than 20 years with the UK Home Office."

Northrop Grumman Europe chief executive Andrew Tyler said: "Northrop Grumman is at the forefront of advances in security technology for the most sensitive information assets including finger and palm print data.

"This contract award will enable us to continue the good work we have been doing to provide the police service with the national identity management capabilities they need."

Specifically, IDENT1 provides identity management and crime scene forensic systems, which use fingerprints to provide the principal means of forensically verifying or resolving identities in Britain for law enforcement missions.

Developed by Northrop under a £122m contract received in December 2004, the software includes finger and palm print analysis, print search capabilities with access to international databases, verification of the identities of arrested persons, and information sharing capabilities between state, local, and federal agencies throughout England, Scotland, and Wales.

According to the National Policing Improvement Agency, IDENT1 currently features the fingerprints of 7.1 million people and makes 85,000 matches with data recovered from crime scenes every year.

Work under the two-year contract is scheduled to be performed in Coventry and Fareham, UK, as well as the US.

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Image: UK Home Office has contracted Northrop Grumman to maintain and enhance the IDENT1 core software. Photo: © Crown copyright.