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SLED credits AFIS cloud migration and DHS IDENT link for first‑in‑nation latent identification
Summary
SLED testified that an October 2025 AFIS migration to a Microsoft Azure government cloud and integration with DHS IDENT enabled the state's first successful latent‑print identification that other systems (state AFIS and FBI NGI) had not matched, an example SLED used to argue for continued investment.
Major Monte Coates said SLED completed a significant AFIS migration on October 7, 2025 to a cloud environment that added new biometric capabilities including iris capture and digital scars/tattoos. He described a Richland County homicide investigation in which post‑mortem fingerprints and FBI NGI searches produced no match but the DHS IDENT integration delivered a hit and identified the victim. "That was the 1st successful latent identification using the DHS IDENT system in The United States," Coates said.
Coates used the example to argue that infrastructure decisions made years earlier—specifically insisting on DHS integration during the AFIS upgrade—had real public‑safety value. He also noted the agency is digitizing large volumes of legacy fingerprint cards (SLED reported preparing ~149,000 cards, shipping 137,000 to a vendor and processing ~101,000) and running training classes to improve fingerprint quality. Committee members responded by asking about sustainment costs and the cloud contract; Coates said the APHIS/AFIS cloud contract includes ongoing costs that rely on a combination of state and grant funding.
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