Rapid identification solutions have been on the market and playing a growing role in law enforcement for a decade or more. Although they’re widely used at police stations and central booking facilities, the equipment has been too large for officers to take on the road and was not designed for outdoor use. Sensor innovations and other advances now make it possible to package the technology into smaller devices, creating the opportunity for police to rethink how they identify persons of interest. The latest mobile biometric readers enable police officers to perform a mobile identity check against an automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS) in the field, typically in less than two minutes, eliminating the need to transport suspects to another location.