British Police Secure Weapons with RFID Solution from RFIP, Tagsys

TAGSYS, a leading provider of item-level RFID infrastructure, and RFIP Ltd., a leading provider of RFID equipment and support, announced they have developed a new and innovative RFID-based weapons tracking solution to secure armaments for military, law enforcement and other agencies. The solution is currently being piloted with a major UK police force.

Named the Intelligent Drawer Armory System (iDAS), the solution utilizes embedded RFID technology to automatically record the issue and return of weapons to a secure storage locker. The solution not only automates inefficient manual weapons issuing processes, but also provides a complete service history for each weapon, generates audit reports for supervisors, prevents issue of weapons to un-authorized officers and improves weapon security.

In the current installations, the police department is keeping track of its Tasers using RFID-equipped storage cabinets. Each Taser is tagged with a high frequency TAGSYS Ario 370-SDM (Small Disc Module) RFID tag, and monitored using TAGSYS Medio P032 OEM RFID readers and antennas mounted in the cabinet.

“The TAGSYS Ario tags are very small, making them easy to apply to the Tasers without interference with the functionality of the weapon, but they also provide a reliable read range,” said David Armstrong, director at RFIP Ltd. “The tags are very rugged, which is important given the environments these weapons are typically used in.”

Previously, Tasers were issued by armories at the larger police stations in the UK. However, the devices are now being deployed at smaller precinct locations. As a result, local police stations need a compact and secure method of storing and issuing Tasers that is also cost effective.

When an officer needs a Taser, he presents his identification card to a card reader on the cabinet. At this stage, the system establishes if the officer is authorized to carry Tasers. Upon authorization, a touch screen attached to the system guides the officer through a series of legal and procedural notices and the Taser is then electronically signed for before the system signals one of the drawers to open. The authenticated officer then removes the Taser, and the weapon is automatically allocated to him within the asset management application from JML Software Solutions Ltd., a UK-based company that specializes in asset tracking solutions for law enforcement.

“The RFID solution has improved the department’s track-and-trace capabilities,” Armstrong said. “In the event that the department would need to review the history of any device or officer, authorities can access a complete record of who had access to the weapon and any relevant service or training information.”

RFIP and JML Software Solutions have developed additional concept models for hand gun and machine gun tracking for both law enforcement and military applications. This project seals the partnership between TAGSYS, RFIP and JML and leads the way to more joint projects in the future.