King County's Regional Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) is currently supported by a six-year property tax levy. The levy collects a small portion of property taxes (approximately a nickel per thousand dollars of assessed value) and uses it to purchase and operate the best criminal identification technology to improve public safety throughout the County.

The Regional AFIS Advisory Committee monitors the funds provided for AFIS by the citizens of King County. The committee is made up of 13 representatives from various suburban law enforcement agencies, the City of Seattle, and King County. This broad base of input from across the county allows the AFIS Program to better meet the needs of individual communities.

The levy allows for technology upgrades to ensure that each suspect is identified as quickly and accurately as possible. King County is developing one of the most effective networks of electronic fingerprinting stations in the nation.

Livescan's Broad Reach

Through the Regional AFIS Levy, the citizens of King County have supported the installation of 39 Livescan fingerprint capture devices in police stations, precincts, and jails throughout King County. Your neighborhood police officer is never far from this advanced computer technology. King County also uses numerous servers and workstations to support the operation and transmissions of the Livescan system.

Computer Technology

The funds provided by King County residents make it possible to upgrade the AFIS computer to increase hit rates and provide for more timely identifications. King County meets all national standards for the exchange of fingerprint information and can now provide increased data storage.

Searching for Criminals Nationwide

King County AFIS is connected to other systems around the country to search and retrieve fingerprints. This enables AFIS to identify offenders “visiting” from other states. Thousands of criminals have been convicted and taken off the streets due to King County’s advanced AFIS computer technology.