Iris ID system available for use in Millinocket

MILLINOCKET – Police have received the biometric iris identification system that they, East Millinocket and Lincoln police will use to scan children whose parents agree to have their children’s identities kept in the system, Police Chief Donald Bolduc said.

The plan, Bolduc said, is to use the system in schools and at large-scale events.

“We can’t have people just showing up here to get their children scanned,” Bolduc said. “It takes time to set up the system and have someone here to administer it.”

If parents consent, second-grade pupils at Granite Street School will be scanned annually, Bolduc said. The system also can be used to help adults and elderly people who suffer from debilitating illnesses such as Alzheimer’s.

Any Millinocket residents interested in participating may call police at 723-9731 to acquire a list of events where the scan system will be featured, Bolduc said.

East Millinocket residents can call 746-3555; Lincoln, 794-8161.

Like fingerprints, an individual iris is unique, Bolduc has said. They do not change with age, and having a record on file would make identification of missing people who are or might be found infinitely easier. Irises have several hundred more identification points than fingerprints.

Children who have their eyes scanned will have their records entered into local police computers and a national database sponsored by the Nation’s Missing Children Organization and the Center for Missing Adults, the application says.

Millinocket is among 13 agencies statewide that has the system funded by grants from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation and an anonymous donor.

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