Iris recognition technology, familiar to some from such futuristic films as “Minority Report” and “Demolition Man” as a method of identifying individuals, is coming to central Iowa.

On Thursday, Story County became the first county in the state of Iowa to introduce the cutting-edge technology, which, police hope, will allow authorities to more quickly locate and identify missing children.

The Children’s Identification and Location Database Project uses iris recognition technology to locate individuals from a national database. It will replace the fingerprinting system that has been in use.

The president of the CHILD Project, Sean Mullin, said two of the biggest assets of iris recognition technology are its speed and accuracy.

After a digital photograph is taken of the irises, they are stored in a centralized database that can be accessed from anywhere, using the Internet, Mullin said. The irises of every person are unique, including between identical twins, and the physical characteristics don’t change with age, making iris recognition technology more accurate than fingerprinting, which often returns many possible matches, Mullin said.

Enrollment in the program is voluntary. Story County Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald said their office is in the process of planning ways to inform parents of the program, such as working with schools, Kiwanis clubs, and even setting up a booth at ISU football games.

“We’re excited to implement this,” Fitzgerald said.

He said the primary objective of the project will be to encourage parents to involve their children, but didn’t rule out the possibility of incorporating seniors or inmates in the future. Although the technology has no forensic benefits, it can be useful in determining the true identity of repeat offenders.

Children who are enrolled in the program will be erased from the database when they turn 18, unless they are classified as missing when they reach their 18th birthday, Mullin said.

The system cost $10,000, and was donated to the Sheriff’s office anonymously. Mullin said Fitzgerald, a member of the National Sheriff’s Association, spoke with him during a conference three years ago about installing the system in Story County, and they worked together to secure a donor.

“It’s a testament to his [Fitzgerald’s] leadership and innovation,” Mullin said.

More information and consent forms for enrollment of children in the program can be found at www.thechildproject.org.