Northrop Grumman Develops Search Capability for Mobile Electronic Fingerprinting for the UK Police Service


LONDON, Nov. 23, 2006 -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has developed a database search capability for new electronic mobile fingerprinting technology for the UK's Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO), that will help speed up the process of establishing a person's identity. The Police Service launched trials of the hand-held electronic mobile fingerprinting system on 22 November beginning with a pilot programme by Bedfordshire Police in Luton, as part of a national project called Lantern.

The new electronic mobile fingerprinting devices will help speed up the process of establishing a person's identity and for the first time, will enable police to be able to carry out identity checks in an operational environment away from the police station.

The search capability developed by Northrop Grumman for the electronic mobile fingerprinting devices will allow real-time searching of the UK's national fingerprint database on the national automated fingerprint system known as IDENT1.

"The electronic mobile fingerprinting capability will accelerate the identification process of individuals during roadside stops, therefore decreasing the time police officers spend at their stations," said Hugh Taylor, vice president of Northrop Grumman Information Technology sector. "This process improvement will allow police officers to spend more time on the frontline, focusing on their public safety mission and making informed decisions."

"Lantern is a powerful tool and this pilot will help explore the accuracy and capacity of the system. We are pleased that Northrop Grumman's considerable experience of large scale information systems and systems integration expertise has been able to play such an important role in the development of this advanced technology solution," said Graham Thornton, vice-president of business development for Northrop Grumman UK.

Lantern will enable the police for the first time, to capture an individual's fingerprint details and check their identity in an operational environment away from the police station. The search capability developed for the electronic mobile fingerprinting devices will allow real-time searching of the UK's national fingerprint database on the national automated fingerprint system known as IDENT1. The IDENT1 system allows routine identification of suspected criminals throughout the UK mainland with a unified collection of finger and palm prints as part of an integrated computer system designed to link more than 50 police forces and agencies in England, Scotland and Wales. Northrop Grumman was awarded the contract to provide PITO with the IDENT1 system in 2004.

The Lantern electronic mobile fingerprinting device scans both index fingers of the subject, captures the information electronically and sends it to the central fingerprint database using encrypted wireless transmissions. A real-time search against the IDENT1 national fingerprint collection of 6.6 million prints is then conducted. Any possible matches are identified and returned to a police officer in a target time of less than five minutes.

The Lantern pilot project will aid the development of a national UK solution for use by all police forces by demonstrating how it performs in an operational environment. Ten UK police forces are participating in the Lantern project. The pilot is scheduled for completion in December 2007.

Northrop Grumman in the UK operates from five primary locations: Southampton, Coventry, New Malden, Peterborough and Solihull providing avionics, communications, electronic warfare systems, marine navigation systems, robotics, C4I and mission planning, IT systems and software development. Northrop Grumman established its UK corporate office in London in early 2006 and in November created the new UK-registered company Northrop Grumman UK Limited.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a $30 billion global defence and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.

CONTACT:
Ken Beedle
Northrop Grumman Information Technology
+44 0207 747 1910
Ken.beedle@euro.ngc.com

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