Gov. Gregoire, DOC announce prison safety initiative following national review

For Immediate Release: March 21, 2011

Gov. Chris Gregoire today joined Department of Corrections Secretary Eldon Vail and a consultant with the National Institute of Corrections, Joan Palmateer at the Monroe Correctional Complex to announce a comprehensive Prison Safety Initiative designed to enhance safety in Washington�s prisons. The initiative includes an action plan that outlines proposed safety improvements including staffing level changes, new body alarms and increased training for staff members.

�The death of Corrections Officer Jayme Biendl at Monroe Correctional Complex earlier this year was a terrible loss for her family, her community, the Department of Corrections and the state of Washington,� Gregoire said. �In the face of that loss, we resolved to find out what happened and to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent another such attack on our corrections officers. Jayme�s legacy will be enhanced protection of her co-workers, who face inherent dangers while on the job.�

The action plan includes recommendations in five key areas � staffing, technology, policy and procedure, staff training and offender capacity.

�We�re going to move forward carefully with this action plan,� said Vail. �We must be responsible with these actions as many will change long-standing ways of doing business. It is important to give each action item a thoughtful review to ensure these resources will be used efficiently.�

Many of the safety enhancements were recommended by a team of experts provided by the National Institute of Corrections. Gregoire asked the team to review the death of Correctional Officer Jayme Biendl.

The proposed safety enhancements include:

� Adding custody staff at all major facilities who are responsible for ensuring the whereabouts of all prison employees;
� Evaluating and enhancing the current radio system to include moving panic buttons to the microphone area;
� Piloting a proximity card system at the Washington State Reformatory and the Washington State Penitentiary to track staff locations, follow up with installation at all facilities;
� Developing a standardized statewide system for proximity cards, body alarms and video surveillance systems to present to the Legislature;
� Developing curriculum and training all first-level supervisors on enhanced security awareness to combat complacency; and
� Temporarily reducing overcrowding in prisons, including stopping double-bunking at the Washington State Reformatory.

DOC will work with legislators to implement the recommendations. While DOC is not required to implement the recommendations from NIC, Vail said the team�s report is a valuable resource.

�The experts at NIC identified many areas where we can improve,� said Vail. �While there�s always a risk of incidents when you�re working with a dangerous offender population, we are confident that this plan will improve the safety of our prisons.�

DOC took immediate action after Biendl�s death to improve safety. Prisons statewide have implemented systems that better account for staff after an offender can�t be accounted for, increased monitoring of single-person posts and have conducted drills on the use of silent alarms that are on all radios.

Monroe Correctional Complex implemented additional safety steps such as modified movement of offenders at the Washington State Reformatory, increased contact with single-person posts, improved response when single-person posts cannot be contacted and requiring two-person checks to clear buildings.

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