Afghan security agencies team to document policemen

Photo By Tech. Sgt. Tyler Meister | An Afghan Police member scans his fingerprints under the careful supervision of Spc. Zachary M. Williams, the battalion biometrics and detainee officer in Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, in the District Police Center-Arghandab, Kandahar province, Afghanistan. Williams used the new Secure Electronic Enrollment Kit to take photos of the Afghan Police member’s retina and headshots and scan their finger-prints.  

ARGHANDAB DISTRICT, AFGHANISTAN

09.04.2012

Story by Spc. Tyler Meister 

117th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment (Hawaii)

ARGHANDAB DISTRICT, Afghanistan - Two Afghan police agencies teamed to enroll 75 policemen in the International Security Assistance Forces electronic personnel database Sept. 2-4 at the District Police Center-Arghandab. The occasion marked the first time both the Afghan Uniform Police and Afghan Local Police joined forces to distribute identification badges and enroll their personnel in the ISAF system.

High numbers of recent insider attacks are an increasing concern for both Afghan National Security Forces and ISAF. Ensuring all personnel possess proper ID cards and are enrolled in the system is essential for all parties.

Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment used the Secure Electronic Enrollment Kit and a new ID card printer to expedite the process.

“This is the first time we have been able provide both ID badges and enroll the Afghan Police members at one time,” said 1st Lt. Jacob M. Stallings, the assistant intelligence officer of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-1 Inf., 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division. “We recently stopped allowing access to the District Police Center for anyone with an old badge.”

Stallings said the goal of the program is to ensure base security and help prevent future insider attacks by carefully allotting the badges. Only those personnel with a new badge are allowed to access the police center, he said.

The new badges feature a recent photo and notate privileges such as the authority to possess a cell phone, weapon and drive a vehicle while at the police center.

Enrollment in the Secure Electronic Enrollment Kit entailed taking a photo of an individual’s retina and profile in addition to scanning the person’s fingerprints.

The SEEK is an updated version of the Handheld Interagency Identity Detection Equipment and contains an upgraded interface, an improved imagery device faster system processing times.

“I definitely prefer the new system over the old one,” said Spc. Zachary M. Williams, the battalion biometrics and detainee operation officer in 2nd BCT, 2nd Inf. Div. “We received the new system about three weeks ago and it has been more user-friendly, which allows us to easily accomplish enrollments.”

Williams said the old system malfunctioned. In contrast, the new system performed flawless for the 2nd BCT Soldiers during their three days of processing Afghan Police members in early September.

• Date Taken: 09.04.2012
• Date Posted: 09.08.2012 10:33
• Story ID: 94401
• Location: ARGHANDAB DISTRICT, AF