NATCHEZ &045; It’s not here yet, but sooner or later the most advanced technology to protect children will make its way to Adams County.

Law enforcement officials across the country are celebrating today’s unveiling of iris biometric recognition technology as a way to identify children or adults who are missing.

Though the formal kickoff of the national program is in Phoenix, Sheriff Ronny Brown said he’s looking forward to brining the technology to Adams County.

&uot;One day everyone is going to have it,&uot; Brown said. &uot;Today marks the official beginning of this important project.&uot;

The Nation’s Missing Children Organization and the National Center for Missing Adults worked to develop the program using the eye-scan technology.

Local sheriff’s offices, including Adams County, will apply for grants through NMCO to receive the Children’s Identification and Location Database equipment.

The technology takes a high-resolution digital photograph of an individual’s eye and is painless. Comparing images can positively identify the person.

Participation would be voluntary, but having a iris photo on file would enable law enforcement officers to quickly identify a missing person.

The iris of every eye is completely unique, even between twins.

The iris does not change with age. Using iris technology to identify people is the next step up from fingerprinting.

Currently children and adults can be fingerprinted and issued photo ID cards as a means of protection.