Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania have been using an integrated security system that gives users access to information provided by separate agencies. While an earlier Pennsylvania Justice Network program, dubbed JNET, sometimes helped organizations, many efforts proved futile when authorities solely had photographs of suspects, according to a Computerworld report.

As a result, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Justice Network established a new JNET Facial Recognition System, or JFRS, to help identify alleged criminals captured in photographs. The technology takes unique measurements of an individual's face and compares it to more than 3.5 million faces stored in the Commonwealth Photo Imaging Network of people that have already been arrested in the state, the news source said.

Similar facial recognition solutions are being used by law enforcement agencies around the world, helping the technology evolve and mature and enhancing performance within integrated security systems. According to a separate report by TechNavio, the global market for facial recognition software will expand at a compound annual growth rate of more than 29 percent through 2014.

In Pennsylvania, for example, any law enforcement agency can access JFRS through JNET, regardless of the organization's size or technological capabilities, Computerworld said.