NEW YORK – Thermo Fisher Scientific said on Thursday that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has approved the company's Applied Biosystems RapidHIT ID DNA Booking System for use by law enforcement booking stations to automatically process, upload, and search DNA reference samples from qualifying arrestees against the US National DNA Index System CODIS database.
The RapidHIT ID DNA Booking System is a fully automated, sample-to-answer genetic analyzer that processes DNA samples and enrolls arrestees and searches in CODIS in approximately 90 minutes. The system was developed specifically with the needs of booking stations in mind, Thermo Fisher said.
The company also noted that the system works with a wide range of commonly used DNA collection swabs; enables seamless integration of DNA profiles with Live Scan terminals and other biometric information systems to align with FBI, state, and agency requirements; and allows for real-time analysis of single samples. In addition, the embedded auditing, reporting, and training tools help to maintain security and compliance with FBI guidelines.
"NDIS approval of the RapidHIT ID DNA Booking System is a crucial step in supporting the FBI's vision of searching CODIS while a qualifying arrestee is in police custody," Martin Guillet, vice president and general manager of human identification at Thermo Fisher, said in a statement. "We remain committed to partnering with the criminal justice community to ensure booking station implementation is a success, and to maintaining the standards of quality and integrity set forth by the forensics community."