There are conflicting reports about how well the Virgin Islands is doing regarding the issuance of secure driver’s licenses.
The islands appear to be lagging well behind all but one of the states, and behind some of the territories as well, according to a 56-jurisdiction report issued by a Washington think tank, the Center for Immigration Studies. It was written by Janice Kephart, who had earlier played a prominent staff role with the 911 Commission.
But Jerris T. Browne, the director of the V.I. Bureau of Motor Vehicles, adamantly disagreed with Kephart’s report. He said during a phone interview Friday that the detailed 488-cell table of which this article is based is inaccurate and concluded that the report was not up to date.
The V.I. got $2.1 million in federal funds for the project, more than some of the 50 states, such as Alaska and Vermont. There is no disagreement on this point, nor is there on the question of non-use of fingerprints on the V.I.’s licenses.
The 911 Commission made a number of sensible suggestions, all designed to keep driver’s licenses out of the hands of terrorists and criminals. It recommended, for instance, that the issuances of driver’s licenses be centralized, to minimize fraud; that the cards themselves be tamper-resistant; that they be issued only after checking to make sure that the driver was legally present in the U.S.; and that the cards have what are called “biometric verification features,” such as fingerprints and “facial recognition.”
A key feature of Kephart’s report is a detailed 488-cell table showing how well the areas have met these recommendations. It is from reading this table that one could that the VI, Guam, and Louisiana (a state that is opposed to the whole program) are at the bottom of the list.
The V.I., for example according to the Kephart report, does not issue the cards on a centralized basis nor does it issue tamper-resistant cards; only on St. Croix is there a check as to the legal status of the drivers; and there is no use of fingerprints, among other failings.
One of the most interesting fraud-prevention techniques is facial recognition; it involves a computer program that recognizes people’s faces so accurately that if someone tries to secure driver’s licenses under two different names and has to provide a photo, the system will recognize the dual attempt to apply. The V.I. is one of a handful of jurisdictions that does not use this system, despite the federal funding. The entire report can be accessed online.
Browne, however, gave a line-by-line assessment of where he said the report is flawed, and pointed out one of the largest mistakes comes in block 1 of the report, which gives an overall assessment of how compliant each state or territory will be by the deadline, Jan. 2013.
“When I look at the legend, it says we have a plus sign,” Browne said. “That is absolutely incorrect. The V.I. should have one star, which says that we have ‘substantially met, and are committed to meet 18 benchmarks or more’ – we have completed over 30 requirements for REAL ID compliance!”
Brown said they are only steps away from getting software to implement tamper-resistant licenses and said he is waiting on Government House to approve the contract.
“By next week we should have that in place,” Browne said. “The agenda is picked, the contract is in place, the money is secure – it just hasn’t been approved by Government House yet.”
As far as St. Croix being the only place to check legal status of drivers, Browne said that was incorrect. He said the territory will be going through the hub of American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) to verify legal status; however that information will be accessible on all three islands.
“We are the first territory that will be connected on this system. It was tested two weeks ago, and I estimate within 90 days, we should have it live in the territory,” Browne said.
Browne said although it’s not required to have facial recognition to be in compliance with the law, he fully plans to implement it.
“We are in the process of doing a separate contract because it is needed,” Browne said.
Browne agreed that the Virgin Islands received $2.1 million in funding, adding, “We have got hard-working, efficient people over here. Yes, we may be a little behind, but the deadline is 2013, and we expect to meet it. We are substantially in compliance.”
Ed. note: One of the reporters of this piece (North) is based in Washington, D.C., and is also a consultant to CIS, but did not work on the report; the other (Leedy) is based in the V.I.
