Personnel with the CJIS Division’s Special Processing Center (SPC) assist our law enforcement partners every day by processing criminal fingerprint submissions that require immediate handling. Employees also use the advanced search capabilities of the Next Generation Identification (NGI) System to assist law enforcement and criminal justice agencies in identifying unknown deceased subjects and other cold cases.

On December 21, 2017, the SPC received a request from the Cuyahoga County Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (CCRFSL) in Ohio for assistance in identifying an unknown deceased subject. First, SPC staff unsuccessfully processed the fingerprints through the NGI System. Then, a supervisory fingerprint examiner submitted the fingerprints for a search in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) IDENT System, which resulted in a positive identification. SPC staff provided the CCRFSL with the subject’s identifying information and the DHS IDENT contact information. Without collaboration between the FBI and the DHS, this subject would have remained unidentified.

For more information about how your agency can request assistance from the SPC, e-mail SPC@LEO.gov or call (304) 625-5584.