WHEREAS, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) has established a national Task Force on Identification Security; and

WHEREAS, this Task Force, which has included IACP members and other representatives of law enforcement; and

WHEREAS, driver’s licenses and non-driver’s identification cards issued by Departments of Motor Vehicles have become de facto the primary means of identifying individuals from the age of 16 onward in the United States and Canada for a variety of purposes; and

WHEREAS, the current climate of heightened domestic security makes it more important than ever to ensure the reliability and security of driver’s licenses; and

WHEREAS, AAMVA is developing a system called DRIVerS (Driver Identification and Verification System) that will include standardizing the definition of residency among all jurisdictions; having the expiration date of licenses issued to non-citizens coincide with the expiration of their visas; the use of one or more unique identifiers and interconnectivity of data bases between vital statistic offices and other appropriate agencies; pointer systems to identify problem drivers and security risks; anti-counterfeiting security features, overt and covert, embedded in licenses; and better training of DMV employees in the detection of fraudulent identification documents; and

WHEREAS, the success of DRIVerS will require changes in federal, state and provincial laws and regulations, the availability of federal funding, and cooperation among federal, state and provincial agencies at a level never before experienced; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) urges its members to strongly support the work of the Task Force on Identification Security, thanks the AAMVA for its pioneering efforts, and urges the AAMVA to continue to involve national, provincial, state and local law enforcement agencies in the development and training process; and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the IACP would support federal legislation that would provide national standards for the issuance of driver’s licenses provided that the following conditions are addressed:

• The legislation must set forth certain minimum standards to ensure that the information used to establish an individual’s identity at the time he or she applies for a driver’s license is valid and accurate and consistent from state to state;
• The legislation should set forth a requirement that driver’s licenses contain both a unique identifier, such as a fingerprint, and anti-counterfeiting security devices;
• The legislation should encourage states to link databases so that licensing agencies and law enforcement personnel in other states will be able to access an individual’s criminal and motor vehicle traffic violation history in order to assist in the identification of potential criminal suspects or problem drivers;
• The legislation should also increase the penalties for identity theft and identity fraud. and,
• The legislation should provide states with incentives to act and not penalize states with sanctions for the failure to act.