The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) is looking
for a supplier of portable readers capable of reading identity
cards, passports, bank and credit cards, as well as fingerprints
and facial and/or iris recognition.
The Metropolitan Police issued the
tender in the Official Journal of the European Union yesterday.
The three-year contract is worth between £800,000 and £3m. Up to
five suppliers are expected to tender for the framework
agreement.
The mobile identification unit (MIU) must be capable of
capturing and displaying the information held on microchips and
machine readable zones (MRZ) in passports, bank cards, ID cards,
credit cards and other identification documents.
It must also be able to capture fingerprint images to industry
standards, it said. Further biometric capabilities including facial
recognition (2D and/or 3D), and/or iris recognition would be
favourable.
The reader has to be able to transmit and receive data securely
across a secure police gateway. Acpo said it might have to ask for
an expansion of the reader's capabilities during the contract
term.
The contract includes supporting existing mobile data terminals
that use Mobitex communication technologies and the secure gateway.
"This is required while a gradual transition to the new MIU
technology is undertaken," it said.
All UK police forces, the Serious & Organised Crime Agency,
UK Border Agency, HM Revenue & Customs, Home Office, Ministry
of Defence and Foreign & Commonwealth Office and related
agencies could call for readers.
Acpo wants the first readers by 31 March 2010.