The Kenmore City Council unanimously put its support in a resolution behind the King County Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) ballot measure during its Oct. 22 meeting. The measure will appear on the Nov. 6 general election ballot.
AFIS is a public safety tool that allows criminal justice agencies to fingerprint and identify arrested individuals or suspects of crimes. The AFIS program is funded by a voter-approved levy and provides the technical platform for fingerprint identification services throughout the county with links to other state, regional and federal databases.
The program allows the King County Sheriff’s Office (KCSO), its contract cities, the Seattle Police Department and the suburban police departments within the county access to fingerprint identification information.
From 2007 to 2012, AFIS has been used in over 36,000 investigations. In 2011 alone, it has provided crime fighting support by searching more than 74,000 fingerprint records and in identifying over 3,900 prints from crime scenes by processing almost 19,000 pieces of evidence for finger and palm prints.
If approved, the six-year levy will be at a rate of 5.92 cents per $1,000 assessed value in 2013 and increase annually by the percentage increase in the consumer price index or 1 percent, whichever is greater, with a maximum increase of 3 percent, for the five succeeding years. King County voters have approved levies to support AFIS in 1986, 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2006.
