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Home My WebLink AboutAccept Proposal - 2026-2036 ABIS Contract - Athena Sciences July 14, 2026 Dan McCaugherty Athena Sciences 320 Adams Street, Suite L01 Fairmont, West Virginia 26554 dan@athenasciences.com RE: ABIS Proposal Dear Dan: At its July 14, 2026 meeting, the Board of Public Works accepted the above referenced proposal and began contract negotiations. A member of the South Bend Police Department will be in contact. Sincerely, /s/Hillary Horvath Hillary Horvath, Clerk July 14, 2026 Andre Simenauer NEC Corporation of America 255 Parkshore Drive, Suite 200 Folsom, CA 95360 Andre.simenauer@necam.com RE: ABIS Proposal Dear Andre: At its July 14, 2026, meeting, the Board of Public Works accepted the above proposal from Athena Sciences. Thank you for bidding, and we hope you bid with us in the future. Sincerely, /s/Hillary Horvath Hillary Horvath, Clerk July 14, 2026 Sherlyn Zavaleta IDEMIA Identity and Security USA LLC 11951 Freedom Drive, Suite 1800 Reston, VA 20190 Sherlyn.zavaleta@ps-idemia.com RE: ABIS Proposal Dear Sherlyn: At its July 14, 2026, meeting, the Board of Public Works accepted the above proposal from Athena Sciences. Thank you for bidding, and we hope you bid with us in the future. Sincerely, /s/Hillary Horvath Hillary Horvath, Clerk July 14, 2026 Gerald Bornhofen iTouch Biometrics, LLC gbornhofen@itouchbiometrics.com RE: ABIS Proposal Dear Gerald: At its July 14, 2026, meeting, the Board of Public Works accepted the above proposal from Athena Sciences. Thank you for bidding, and we hope you bid with us in the future. Sincerely, /s/Hillary Horvath Hillary Horvath, Clerk The City of South Bend Police Department July 6, 2026 SELECTION NOTIFICATION OF PROPOSAL FOR AN AUTOMATED BIOMETRICS IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM (ABIS) SCORING AND SELECTION COMMITTEE Charles Eakins – SBPD Crime Lab Supervisor / AFIS Administrator / Latent Print Examiner Sierra Halstead – SBPD Crime Lab – Latent Print Examiner Catrice Whitlow – Fort Wayne, IN Crime Lab Manager / AFIS Administrator / Latent Print Examiner SUBMITTING VENDORS FOR REQUEST FOR PPROPOSAL – ABIS NEC Corporation of America Idemia Identity and Security USA Athena Sciences iTouch Biometrics After carefully vetting these vendor’s Proposals, we have unanimously chosen Athena Sciences of Fairmont, WV to replace our current AFIS System with their Aegis Cloud Based ABIS Identification System. Although Athena Sciences was the lowest bid, they were not selected solely because of that; they were selected because of their unique approach to a customizable ABIS solution and the first ever Multi-Matcher option which includes the highest NIST rated algorithm(s) available. Committee members’ individual scoring sheets with notes are attached, along with a proposal cost comparison sheet including all four vendors is included. We respectfully request the Board of Works approval to negotiate a contract with Athena Sciences for their Aegis Automatic Biometric Identification System. Charles D. Eakins Crime Lab Supervisor/AFIS Administrator 25 points 25 points 25 points 10 points 5 points 5 points 5 points 105 IDEMIA 20 25 20 10 5 5 5 90 NEC 15 20 15 10 5 5 5 75 iTouch 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ATHENA 25 25 25 10 10 5 5 105 IDEMIA:GEN DESC - deducted 10 points because they require an add on to be able to scan fingerprint cards into DB; Can't create Composite of new records; only migrate old composites. This system does not create composite event-based tenprint records on new date in an Archive. To view and print original archives NIST files directly within the STORM ABIS user interface, an 'optional subscription' to the STORM ABIS Archive is required (confusing and more costs). NEC: Unfortunately, a long period (3-4 years) of poor system maintenance; unable to provide service when needed. Lacking in sufficient ranking in speed and accuracy in NIST Fingerprint Evaluation testing in August 2025 (6th). We experienced at least 6 cases in which we searched a latent print in the FBI database and received a hit, but it did not hit in our system or hit at a lower score, and we had the exact same prints in our system that it hit on at the FBI. Algorithms is the difference; NEC's just don't equal the FBI's (which is Idemia). iTouch:This is a new vendor 'currently' in beta testing and not truly ready for market according to Gerry Bornhofen, Founder & CEO. They currently do not have any customers using their new iMatch Technology ABIS System. That, plus the fact that they were the highest bid out of 4 vendors, I did not complete the scoring phase of this RFP for them. ATHENA:Only vendor to offer multi-matcher algorithms. Their choice for SB is ROC which is #1 in NIST Evaluations. They provide ABIS for DOW (8 million), DHS 300-400 million) & US Treasury (1 million). Highly recommended by Mary Hobbs-DoW Product Manager Biometrics. Willing to work with us and customize our ABIS System to fit our needs. Not an off the shelf solution Lowest bid of the 4 vendors who submitted proposals. * Multi Matcher algorithm (Neurotechnology); even after adding this second algorithm to the ROC algorithm to maximize our latent print searching accuracy this is the lowest bid of the 4 competitors. cost $132,727 extra NOTES General Description Interface & Workflows Matching & Performances System Architecture AFIS RFP SCORING SHEET Security Updates, Scalability & Enhancements Training & Support TOTALS AFIS RFP SCORING SHEET General Description Interface & Workflows Matching & Performances System Architecture Security Updates, Scalability & Enhancements Training & Support TOTALS 25 points 25 points 25 points 10 points 5 points 5 points 5 points /100 IDEMIA 25 25 20 10 5 5 5 95 NEC 25 25 15 5 5 5 2.5 82.5 iTouch 25 25 15 5 5 5 0 80 ATHENA 25 25 25 5 5 5 5 95 Idemia: Additional cost for scanning workstation is a negative, also added cost based on size of card archive is a negative. They lost points in my total for this. Their system was designed by a latent print examiner and with the demos I’ve seen, their system is more user friendly for latent print examiners. They currently serve the FBI as their Biometric provider for fingerprints, which is positive and shows that their system is one of the best. Looking at their overall rankings for algorithms in the US, they are ranked currently in second place. Looking at the cost over the four companies, they were the most expensive contract at 2,005, 104.00. NEC: Long history with NEC. Their customer service has failed to live up to the promises they have made. We upgraded to their cloud system three years ago and it has not lived up to what we paid for. Currently, the state police has NEC for their vendor, which I think still gives them a small advantage over competitors in Indiana. Customer service is lacking. We currently have work orders pending that have not been addressed, some have been in the system for almost a year with no resolution. Looking at their overall rankings for algorithms in the US, they are ranked currently in sixth place. They lost points for customer service and algorithm rankings. Looking at the cost, they were the second lowest contract at 1,461,464.00. iTouch: We were looking at this company when we updated our smartscan at the jail last year. They do not offer 24hr maintenance package for the smartscan. Looking at the contract it looks like they only offer maintenance and support Monday through Friday 8am to 5pm. They offer four hours of web training with the contract with optional services of additional webinar training and onsite training and travel at an additional cost. They lost points for maintenance support and training. Looking at their overall rankings for algorithms in the US, I could not find anything documented. I went to their website, and they only had information about the Smartscan side of the business, no details on what they offer for ABIS or their algorithm rankings. Looking at the cost over the four companies, they were the second most expensive contract at 1,723,500.00. Athena: Initial startup costs came in second highest but overall, their price between the four companies were the lowest. One negative for them is that they are looking to get into the ABIS market and if chosen, South Bend will be the first local police department to go with their company. They are providing ABIS support to the Department of Justice and Homeland Security. They provided references when asked and were very responsive to questions and provided additional follow-up information. They assured me personally that our current equipment (Mobile Units, PIDS, and Smartscans) would work with their ABIS system. Looking at their overall ranking for algorithms in the US, they are currently ranked in first place. I couldn’t give them the full points for their system architecture because I have no experience with any of their products. Looking at the cost over the four companies, they were the lowest contract at 1,147,402.74. I would recommend Athena. Their search algorithms alone put them ahead of every ABIS company in the country. Their relationship with the Department of Justice and Homeland security shows they have experience with law enforcement on a large scale so I would think they could more than handle the ABIS needs of any city in Indiana. They also have the added plus of having the lowest contract price. I hope they reach out when it’s time for the Fort Wayne Police Department to start our ABIS search. Catrice R. Whitlow BS, MS Manager/Forensic Scientist Fort Wayne Police Department Laboratory (260) 427-2075 Catrice.Whitlow@cityoffortwayne.org BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AGENDA ITEM REVIEW REQUEST FORM Date July 6th, 2026 Name Sgt. Aaron M. Knepper #2174 Department SBPD BPW Date July 14th, 2026 Phone Extension 9018 Review and Approval Required Prior to Submittal to Board Diversity Compliance and Inclusion Officer Officer Name BPW Attorney Attorney Name Michael Schmidt Dept. Attorney Attorney Name Kylie Connell Purchasing Check the Appropriate Item Type – Required for All Submissions Professional Services Agreement Contract Proposal Open Market Contract Amendment/Addendum Special Purchase, QPA Bid Opening Bid Award Req. to Advertise Title Sheet Quote Opening Quote Award Reject Bids/Quotes Proposal Opening C/O & PCA No. PCA Chg. Order, No. Traffic Control Resolution Other: Accept Proposal Ease./Encroach Required Information Company or Vendor Name New Vendor Yes If Yes, Approved by Purchasing No MBE/WBE Contractor MBE WBE Completed E-Verify Form Attached Yes No Project Name SBPD ABIS Contract – 2025 to 2036 Project Number Funding Source Account No. Amount Terms of Contract TBD – 2026 through 2036 Purpose/Description The South Bend Police Department is requesting that the Board of Public Works accept the proposal for the “AUTOMATED BIOMETRIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM (ABIS) FOR THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND POLICE DEPARTMENT” 2026-2036 contract. Athena Sciences has been selected as the company in which SBPD wishes to negotiate further with; a final contract will be submitted to the Board for approval. For Change Orders Only Amount of Increase Decrease $ ($ ) Previous Amount $ Current Percent of Change: Increase Decrease % ( %) New Amount $ Total Percent of Change: Increase Decrease % ( %) Time Extension Amount: Athena Sciences