Office of Justice Programs n Innovation • Partnerships • Safer Neighborhoods n www.ojp.usdoj.gov

NIJ Helps Police to Exchange Driver’s 

License Photos 

Overview

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has teamed 

up with law enforcement agencies in four states in 

a pilot project to transmit driver’s license photographs across state lines and deliver the photos to 

an officer’s computer within seconds of a request.

Law enforcement agents often need to confirm the 

identity of people who are not carrying a driver’s 

license or other form of identification. A person 

may offer a name and birth date to an officer, 

who can then get some basic information, including whether the person has a valid driver’s license 

from any state in the union. Without a photograph, 

however, police do not know whether people are 

being truthful about their identity. A fugitive who 

is stopped for a traffic violation, for example, could 

well offer the name and birth date of a family member who has an out-of-state driver’s license and a 

clean record. 

Photo Exchange 

The pilot project to exchange driver’s license photographs started in 2008 and includes North Carolina, 

Oregon, South Carolina and Virginia. The project 

is the first significant advance in the exchange of 

driver’s license information since 1969, when states 

began making driver’s license information accessible to police officers. Driver’s license data typically 

include an address, date of birth, height, weight 

and ethnicity. Adding the capability to view a photo 

increases an officer’s ability to make a positive 

identification and helps to keep officers safe. Also, 

using a photograph for positive visual identification 

can sometimes eliminate the need to detain someone simply for identification purposes. 

NCJ 225801

Sept. 09

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

National Institute of Justice

Toward Criminal Justice Solutions

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short

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Nlets Coordinates Driver’s License

Exchange Effort

The International Justice & Public Safety 

Network, commonly known as Nlets, is coordinating an image-sharing system that allows 

law enforcement personnel to exchange driver’s 

license photographs across state lines. This 

swift exchange of important public safety information in a secure environment provides law 

enforcement personnel with timely, accurate 

and necessary information.

Nlets is a nonprofit corporation chartered 

by the states. Members include federal law 

enforcement agencies, criminal justice agencies 

from all 50 states, the American territories and 

the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The pilot project is underway in North Carolina, 

Oregon, South Carolina and Virginia. Nlets 

is encouraging other states to join the photo 

exchange program. The computerized system uses the Global Justice XML Data Model 

(Global JXDM), an information-exchange 

standard designed specifically for criminal 

justice agencies that has been widely, but not 

universally, adopted. Read more about the 

Global JXDM at http://www.it.ojp.gov/default.

aspx?area=globalJustice.

Police departments interested in joining the 

photo exchange program can contact Nlets. 

More information about Nlets and its various 

communications programs can be found on the 

organization’s Web site at http://www.nlets.org.
2

The exchange of driver’s license photos can also be 

used to help identify someone who is engaged in 

identity theft.

Restrictions

Some states cannot yet share fully in the system 

because of technical, budgetary or policy reasons. 

For example, some states have laws that specifically restrict sharing Department of Motor Vehicle 

(DMV) images with anyone outside the state and 

so prevent out-of-state law enforcement agencies 

from receiving images from such states. These 

laws are typically designed to protect the privacy 

of state residents. States that are not ready to participate fully in the driver’s license photo exchange 

program can still use it to receive DMV images 

because the system can provide a great benefit to 

law enforcement agencies.

This document is not intended to create, does not create, and may not be relied upon to create any rights, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law by any party in any matter civil or criminal. Opinions or points of view expressed in this document represent 

a consensus of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice. The 

products and manufacturers discussed in this document are presented for informational purposes only and do not constitute product approval or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Justice.

*NCJ~225801*

Coordination

The International Justice & Public Safety Network, 

commonly known as Nlets, is coordinating the 

image-sharing system. (The organization, started 

in 1963, has retained its original acronym for the 

National Law Enforcement Teletype System.) 

Recent technical advances — including the development of XML, a computer programming language 

that eases the exchange of information on the 

Internet — have helped to make the exchange of 

photos possible. 

In the future, Nlets hopes to add the ability to 

exchange other types of official photographs, such 

as booking and mug shot photos. Nlets has drafted 

model documents that can help states to address 

privacy and other policy concerns and ensure that 

their law enforcement agencies have access to the 

system.

Funding for the pilot program was provided by 

NIJ and the Department of Homeland Security’s 

Directorate for Science and Technology.