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| New sex offender facility unveiled at McNeil Island |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/05/2004 |
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Officials have unveiled the state's new $60 million special commitment center -- the latest step in Washington's effort to satisfy a federal court order to improve state treatment of violent sex offenders. The new 27-acre Special Commitment Center compound lies two miles from the current facility, which is located within the walls of the McNeil Island Corrections Center. The commitment center treats sex offenders who have been civilly committed, deemed too dangerous to be released after they complete their prison terms. The center's 190 male residents, plus one female sex offender currently housed at the women's prison at Purdy, will begin moving to the new complex at the end of April. Washington state is under a federal court order to expand and improve its treatment program for these violent sex offenders, or face as much as $10 million in fines. Because the commitment center is supposed to treat sex offenders rather than punish them, the state was under pressure to move the facility out from behind prison walls, Steve Williams, spokesman for the state Department of Social and Health Services, said last Friday. When interviewed by The Associated Press last year, several residents at the current center complained about their proximity to the general prison population. Although residents have luxuries the adjacent inmates do not -- televisions and computers in their rooms, more comfortable furniture -- the atmosphere, many residents said, is decidedly punitive. That's not to say the new facility on this island near Tacoma is a resort. It looks much like a prison. Two fences surround the perimeter of the largely concrete complex -- one covered in razor wire, and the other designed to set off an alarm should anyone attempt to climb it. But it's what happens inside the facility that sets it apart from a prison, said the center's superintendent Mark Seling. Residents are encouraged to participate in therapy sessions, and therapy rooms are sprinkled throughout the complex. Treatment is optional, but about two-thirds of residents participate, he said. "This makes it even clearer that we're a treatment facility -- not a prison," said Alan McLaughlin, the center's associate superintendent for treatment and care. Still, security is a prime concern. As reporters toured one of the housing wards, staff members were drilled on how to handle various scenarios. "This new center provides the same level of security that we have now," Seling emphasized. |
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