The statewide expansion of the state of Minnesota's eCharging pilot has been announced by BIO-key International, Inc., a major player in finger-based biometric identification solutions.

BIO-key's WEB-key fingerprint biometric software is utilized by this solution to help officers to establish their identity when electronically signing criminal complaints.

By allowing police officers and prosecutors to electronically transmit charging documents in real-time with the courts, the paperless eCharging system increases efficiency.

Duplicate data entry and forms and time and travel for document delivery are eliminated by the electronic delivery.

The system, as reported on Fox 21 News affiliate KQDS-DT in Minnesota, is the first of its kind in the country that saves police hours of time previously spent on paperwork. This further enables them to get back out in the community faster.

Law enforcement officers, to establish their identity when electronically signing a complaint, simply place a finger onto an inexpensive fingerprint reader that plugs into the officer's computer.

By comparing a scanned image against their previously registered fingerprints, the BIO-key software quickly and accurately establishes the officers' identity.

"Feedback from the pilot users was very positive and the use of the system has been found to be very intuitive. The biometric signing is fast, accurate convenient and easy to use," Jill Oliveira, Public Information Officer for the Minnesota Dept. of Public Safety Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said. Chief Dana Waldron from the Virginia MN Police Department added he wouldn't dream of going back to paper.

The major benefits of the system include:

• Time savings: For law enforcement, the time savings estimates have averaged 45 minutes per criminal complaint
• Workflow Monitoring: The system eliminates lost paper complaints. A simple search can be run to see the status of all complaints that are currently in the signing process and the individuals and agencies to which they are assigned
• Auditing: Workflow tracking is available as an audit function, in case the authenticity of the complaint or the signatures on it are challenged
• High Acceptance: Acceptance by law enforcement and the court has been extremely favorable

 "The Minnesota Department of Public Safety has been truly innovative in applying technology to not only improve the services it provides its constituents but in a way that requires fewer resources! This is a model solution that every state should deploy," BIO-key CEO Mike DePasquale, added.

In related news, BIO-key International, Inc. has announced that BIO-key will be presenting at the Annual SafeTrace User Group Meeting, being held at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.