Iris scan offers new protection for local kids

By Jennifer Ruth  
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — It could be considered one of the most unusual requests a parent has ever been asked for, however, Houlton police officers managed to convince area moms and dads that their participation would pay off.
    Houlton Police Lt. Dan Pelletier introduced those parents to the Child Project — Child Identification and Location Database. Spearheaded by the National Missing Children, the project is as simple as looking someone right in the eye — literally.
    “It’s less invasive in that you put your head up to the screen, it scans your eyes and you’re done,” explained Pelletier. “It’s also a lot cleaner.”
    Pelletier introduced the new program during the town’s annual Midnight Madness event last Thursday, July 3.
    Eye scans are the latest tracking technology employed by law enforcement and are replacing traditional methods like finger printing.
    Pelletier said he was able to sign up 27 children, and with a few explanations, parents were more than willing to include their children.
    “After a short explanation, the parents were more than willing to have this done for their child,” he said. “Those adults that wanted to have their child’s eyes scanned, I did that and it’s a matter of getting information from the child and adult, a description of the child, scanning the iris of the child and also taking a photo of the child. It’s all put into a database, which is a nationwide database.”
    Pelletier said the iris scan is new to the county and the state and he said it’s the police department’s goal to draw in more families, as well as including the program in area schools.
    “This enables law enforcement and social service throughout the country to enroll and possibly ID missing children and adults,” he explained. What we’re going to be doing in the future is we’re going to have clinics and we’re going to introduce it to the school systems. This is to aid and prevent missing and lost children.”
    Pelletier said the scan has nothing to do with arrests, in fact, the information is maintained by the National Missing Children’s organization and is only accessible by law enforcement in the event of an Amber Alert or reported missing child.
    “It will be used for identification purposes on a nationwide level — it is a secure nationwide registry, so in other words, as far as getting the information, you have to be law enforcement to get it and it’s maintained by the National Missing Children’s organization, which is a national center for missing children and adults,” explained Pelletier.
    To find out more about the Child Project, contact the Houlton Police Department at 532-2287.