To help catch criminals, police in Finland are harnessing modern technology to create an audio database, reports Helsingin Sanomat. The new database will be available to police nationwide, and it will function similar to current DNA and fingerprint databases.
Investigators are expected to benefit from voice recognition technology when listening in on suspects' phone conversations. The recognition software is not yet foolproof, but it may help police guide their investigations in the right direction.
At the moment police are equipped with a few hundred voice samples that will form the base of the national register. The database is planned to launch in 2010 provided the Interior Ministry agrees to finance it.
