The law enforcement biometrics market is on the rise, according to Frost & Sullivan. In a recent report, the growth consultancy firm estimates that the market was valued at $838 million last year and predicts it will grow to over $1.1 billion in 2021.
Improving technology and concerns about terrorism are the main drivers of the market, according to the report, and while system maintenance will continue to contribute to its growth, “new product adoption will be the key factor fuelling growth in less mature geographies,” says Frost & Sullivan analyst Ram Ravi in a report synopsis. At the same time, limited budgets on the part of law enforcement and security agencies, worsened by global economic conditions, will be the main obstacle to vendors. Ravi suggests that vendors focus on limiting the prices of their biometric systems, which could, “in turn, heighten the importance of middleware/services over hardware.”
Law enforcement agencies’ appetite for this technology is certainly prominent. Recent reports have indicated rapidly increasing use of this technology among San Diego police and in California more broadly; and on an even larger scale, systems like the FBI’s Next Generation Identification platform and biometric identification used in conjunction with the UK’s National Police Database are becoming increasingly important investigative resources. While this kind of technology is sometimes the cause of controversy and that could affect budget priorities going forward, the interest in it on the part of police seems only to be growing.
