Local Cops Share Their Phuket Experience
By Dk Suria Rina PHA

Bandar Seri Begawan - Two local police officers served 17 days at the Thai resort island of Phuket to assist in identifying the tsunami victims during the Dec 26 tragedy.

Placed in the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) operation centre were ASP Haji Muhd Limon Bin Ahmad Kumpoh and CPL 3357 Mohammad Hanafi Bin Haji Mohaidin.

They revealed their experience in Thailand during a press conference yesterday morning at the Public Relations of Police Headquarters in Gadong.

The tsunami disaster led experts to painstakingly cross-reference thousand of forensic data compiled in a huge database in hopes of accounting for the victims.

ASP Haji Muhd Limon said they were called by the Interpol to help identify the victims in Phuket Island.

Their role was to identify the victim's fingerprints by using an Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)

He said the AFIS operator has to be an expert, and proficient in the operation of the AFIS system.

They encountered thousands of fingerprints to be identified, making their workload a tough and challenging, he said.

Based on the data revealed, statistics showed nearly 3,000 fingerprints have been successfully recorded.

ASP Haji Muhd Limon said their primary duties were to assist in making comparisons in editing and analysing the victims' fingerprints images and collating the identification file.

He said for every case to be finalized, this challenging task took them at least two to three hours.

Talking about the system facilitated at the Phuket Island, "it was very different in our country,” he said.

The Phuket Island used the SAGEM MORPHO (France) system while Brunei used the COGENT (US) system. But the difference is not a problem.

Many experts from around the globe assisted each other. They were all very helpful he said. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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