Prepared by the King County Automated Fingerprint Identification System Oversight Committee

April 21, 2000

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I. Executive Summary
The King County Regional Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) is a levy-funded service, managed by the King County Sheriff's Office (KCSO), that provides computer analysis of fingerprints taken from individuals and crime scene evidence. AFIS searches those prints against a database of more than 430,000 fingerprints of known individuals. Fingerprints in the database are obtained from individuals by police agencies and at the King County Correctional Facility, the Regional Justice Center, the Juvenile Detention Center, Work and Education Release and the North Rehabilitation Facility. Latent fingerprints are obtained from crime scenes by police officers and by AFIS Latent Print Examiners, who are called at the request of the investigating police agency. Those fingerprints are processed using sophisticated techniques and compared with known individuals using the King County Regional AFIS computer databases and other regional and national fingerprint databases.

The system has evolved from one that was very narrowly focused on purchase and implementation of the first King County Regional AFIS computer to one that provides comprehensive fingerprint services to police agencies serving King County's incorporated cities and unincorporated areas.

With the current levy set to expire at the end of 2000, the King County Executive and the AFIS Advisory Committee created the AFIS 2000 Subcommittee, with city and county management, police and corrections representatives, to conduct a review of the AFIS program and recommend options for maintenance and improvement of the system during the next levy period. The AFIS Advisory Committee guided the work of the AFIS 2000 Subcommittee and submits this report.

King County Regional AFIS is regarded as one of the premier systems in the country, with latent "hit rates" approximately double the national average. King County Regional AFIS has achieved one of the highest rates of success in identifying crime suspects and determining the true identity of persons with outstanding criminal warrants who otherwise would have been released on aliases. This success has been largely due to the quality and comprehensiveness of its database.

King County Regional AFIS is currently in the process of implementing threshold change in service, through recent installation of the most current generation AFIS mainframe and operating system, and through implementation later this year of Live Scan remote electronic fingerprinting and transmission. Implementation of the AFIS upgrade and Live Scan was anticipated to begin during the second half of the current levy period. However, both were delayed by Washington State definition of electronic print transmission standards and while the vendor addressed Year 2000 computer issues. The AFIS 21 computer upgrade was completed during the last half of 1999, underwent reliability testing during the first quarter of 2000 and is now fully operational and conditionally accepted. Implementation of Live Scan, beginning late in 2000 will provide levels of access and service well beyond that possible today for detention centers, police agencies and other remote users.

King County Regional AFIS has been funded by a voter-approved levy since its inception in 1987. The levy was modified and re-approved in 1990 and again in 1995. This is the final year of the current five-year levy.

First Levy: 2.5 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation (AV) -- Revenue from the first levy was used to purchase and implement the initial AFIS computer system and provided for very minimal staffing to run the computer and process prints. During the 1987-1990 levy period, the value of AFIS was proven as a crime-fighting tool, by matching 1,208 crime scene prints with suspects and by determining the true identities of individuals who gave alias names to avoid being held in jail on outstanding warrants. However, with this initial success, problems and gaps in service were also apparent. Just 60 percent of persons booked into the King County jail were fingerprinted, creating the potential that inmates with outstanding warrants who lied about their identities would be released. Support for law enforcement investigations was compromised by long turnaround times for processing crime scene prints and lack of 24-hour staffing for identifying inmates booked into jail.

Second Levy: 2 cents per $1,000 AV -- In preparation for the 1991-1995 levy it was determined that significant staffing would be required to process inmate and crime scene prints in a more timely manner to make more effective use of the AFIS computer's capabilities. With increased staff, progress and success quickly followed. Nearly 100 percent of persons booked at the King County jail were fingerprinted and identified in an average of five hours. Analysis of crime scene fingerprints was completed on average between 30 and 45 days, down significantly from the first levy. The quality of fingerprints submitted to AFIS, and the resultant identification rate, was significantly improved through:

• establishment of the AFIS print taking unit at the King County Jail
• more than 500 hours of training for suburban police agencies in AFIS capabilities and techniques for lifting crime scene prints

These improvements resulted in catching more than 3,399 "liars" booked into jail and identifying 4,003 crime scene prints during the levy period.

Third Levy: 6.65 cents per $1,000 AV -- As with the first levy, the successes of the second levy masked significant gaps and problems in provision of AFIS services. The Technical Committee charged with making recommendations for the 1996-2000 levy looked behind the statistics and identified many concerns, including:

Need to capture additional prints: Many juvenile offenders were not fingerprinted. Similarly, many persons convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or controlled substances were not printed. With the 1997 opening of the Regional Justice Center in Kent, additional staff would be needed.

Crime Scene Prints: There remained significant barriers to police agencies using AFIS services for identifying potential suspects from crime scene fingerprints. Lengthy processing times for crime scene prints discouraged police from lifting prints and submitting them to AFIS. Additional training for officers was needed to improve the quality of prints submitted from crime scenes.

Investment in Technology: The computer initially purchased for AFIS was anticipated to become obsolete, and it was expected that replacement of the computer and operating system would be needed during the latter years of the levy period. The Levy Committee recommended purchase of Live Scan technology for remote electronic taking and searching of fingerprints. This Live Scan technology, coupled with "store and forward" capability anticipated with the AFIS 21 upgrade was expected to reduce duplication of effort.

Funding Levels: The Technical Committee found that the AFIS system was underfunded even at the existing staffing levels, requiring subsidy by both King County and Seattle.

Access and Service for Suburban Police Agencies: The Committee determined that a concerted effort should be made to increase access and service for Suburban police agencies through increased training, establishment of a technology "grants" fund, reimbursement for suburban jail print taking, and establishment of a Regional AFIS Advisory Committee.

The AFIS proposal was approved in the November 1995 election with a 73 percent "yes" vote.

The agenda for improvement of the AFIS system during this levy period was an ambitious one, and one that has stretched the system to the limits of its resources. In retrospect it is clear that some of the timelines for technology implementation may have been overly optimistic, and were delayed by events and decisions outside the AFIS Program's control. Nevertheless, a great number of the goals have been realized, and the rest should be realized by the end of this year.

1. Proposal for a Fourth Levy

In January 2000, the Regional AFIS Advisory Committee formed the AFIS 2000 Subcommittee to analyze the status of King County Regional AFIS and develop options for the AFIS Advisory Committee's consideration. The AFIS 2000 Subcommittee had representation from King County, Seattle, Suburban Cities and Bellevue. The Subcommittee met weekly from January 6 through April 17. The AFIS Advisory Committee held four working sessions with AFIS 2000 Subcommittee Staff during that period. In addition, Committee staff briefed the Regional Law, Safety and Justice Committee on January 27, the King County Police Chief's Association on January 12 and April 13, the general membership of the Suburban Cities Association on January 12, and held a workshop for Suburban Cities Elected Officials on March 21.

The Subcommittee established a Status Quo cost of services, that is the continuation of services at the levels funded for 2000. Staff analyzed workload expected from implementation of potential new technology, normal increases in service demand, as well as staffing and technology required to close gaps in service.

The Subcommittee explored options for the levy period ranging from a five-year levy to a permanent levy. The Subcommittee sought advice from the King County Assessor regarding what changes should be assumed for calculation of revenues from lid lift property tax levies from those in effect in 1995. The King County Assessor and the King County economist were consulted to set assumptions for assessed valuation, new construction, and rate calculations.

The AFIS Advisory Committee believes that the most viable option would be another five-year levy, subject to restrictions on annual rates of growth as required by Initiative 695. Although the courts have yet to determine what exact effect on property tax measures are required by the Initiative, the Committee recommends an approach in line with Initiative 695 be followed. Using this approach, the rate would be set at an initial level, which would be expected to drop gradually during the course of the levy period. The amount of the drop in rate would be determined by the previous year's yield and the amount of new construction added the previous year to the total Assessed Valuation.

The AFIS Advisory Committee considered the information developed by the subcommittee and recommends the following:

• Continuation of Status Quo Services (five-year total cost of $50,249,711)
• Staffing additions to handle low range estimates of increased workload (five-year total of $2,359,822 and 11 new positions)
• Completion of Live Scan implementation by purchasing and implementing an additional seven units beyond the 22 funded for 2000 (one time costs of $498,400).
• Establishment of print taking at Juvenile Court for juvenile offenders who are never booked into detention. (five-year total cost of $557,677 and two new positions)
• A target ending fund balance of $800,000

View a graphic of Table 1, Estimate of 2001-2005 Levy Expenditures and Rate Impact, 43 KB .jpg

View a graphic of Figure 1, Cost for Owner of Home with $200,000 Assessed Value, 35 KB .jpg

While the AFIS Advisory Committee believes a five-year levy is the most appropriate funding mechanism at this time, it urges King County, the Cities and State to establish a process and work collaboratively during the coming years to provide permanent funding for King County Regional AFIS. Committee members believe AFIS is a vital regional public safety service that should not be jeopardized by the potential failure of a property tax measure. Accordingly, the members also are concerned that any potential permanent funding source be sufficient to support true regional service delivery.

View the complete report and ordinance:

Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) 2000 Levy Options and Costs Report:

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• Adobe Acrobat 3 .pdf, 149 KB
  
• Rich text file .rtf, 434 KB

Ordinance 13894:

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