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April 26, 2004
New Web site offers info on jail inmates;
First project of law, safety and justice integration effort
King County Executive Ron Sims, King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng and King County Sheriff’s Office Chief Sue Rahr, and King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert today announced a new web based on-line service that offers both the public and criminal justice agencies the ability to find the status of inmates in the county’s correctional facilities. They were joined by Major Scott Somers, Chair of King County’s Police Chiefs Association; Larry Mayes, director of King County’s Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention and Seattle Assistant Police Chief Harry Bailey.
“This is the inaugural product of the county’s collaborative effort to make our criminal justice system work better as a whole,” said Sims, who, with Maleng, established the Law, Safety and Justice Integration Program in 2002.
“By integrating many aspects of criminal justice information into a streamlined, efficient operating system, this program will enhance public safety and reduce costs,” Sims added. “Over the next 24 months, there will be a series of technology integration projects implemented.”
The first project, said Maleng, is the Jail Inmate Lookup Service (JILS). JILS provides the public with the ability to search on-line for specific individuals who are in custody in King County’s detention facilities. For example, it provides families with visiting information, bail amounts, charges, and other information on a specific inmate.
Another benefit of JILS is that criminal justice agencies and individual law enforcement officers have web-based access to extensive, detention-related information. This information which resides in several different databases can now be retrieved quickly on one screen. King County Sheriff’s Office Chief Sue Rahr explained that law enforcement can now easily view the full detention history, all known aliases and addresses, mug shots, and other valuable information.
Executive Sims stated, “The exciting part of this program is that integration improves with each successful project rather than the risky and expensive approach of replacing all criminal justice databases at one time with one integrated system.”
Mr. Maleng echoed Executive Sims’ statement including, “This has been long overdue and will provide the integrated information and resources that many of us have sought for years.”
Chief Rahr indicated, “JILS enhances the ability for the officer to quickly identify if a subject was previously in custody in King County correctional facilities. That alone will assist the officers in knowing the type of person they are dealing with in a contact situation."
“This is just the kind of important criminal justice cooperation that not only makes the public safer but saves taxpayer dollars that can be used for other essential crime fighting tools,” said King County Councilmember Kathy Lambert, chair of the council’s Law, Justice and Human Services Committee.
The system can be accessed on King County’s home page. Click on “Spotlight on Service” for the Jail Inmate Lookup Service.
Related information: Overview document (33K Word .doc)
Updated: April 26, 2004
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