Law enforcement has looked at and recorded tattoos on alleged gang members for a long time, but recently law enforcement has been looking to automate the process. That means moving away from binders with photographs of tattoos and toward computerized databases that can analyze similarities in design. The process is called bio-metrics, and law enforcement has already been using it to digitally scan your fingerprints, faces and irises to easily ascertain your identity.

Music by Kevin Macleod, Puddle of Infinity, Chris Zabriskie.

Images by Wikipedia, dataworksplus.com, tattoosforyou.org, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Produced by Paul Detrick. Shot by Alexis Garcia and Alex Manning.