Steve Thompson has run up some impressive numbers since he took over in July as director of Snohomish County’s jail system.
Under his watch, overtime costs at the county jail in Everett have shrunk by half a million dollars. He has restructured the corrections department’s staff and refocused their mission, trimming spending by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
But what may be the best measure of change happened during the county government’s annual spring food drive, Thompson said.
Last year’s food drive hit at a time when workers at the jail were making headlines for a series of scandals involving mishandling of money, inmate deaths and alleged misconduct. Distracted and dispirited, corrections department staff contributed just 280 pounds of food to the needy.
This year, the same workers brought in 39,000 pounds of food.
“That, I think, attests to the character of the staff,” Thompson said. “I think it is just a nice reflection that there is a bit of change in the air, all due to their initiative and interest.”
In the nine months since Thompson took over, he’s taken the “problem child” of county government and turned it into a model for other departments by instituting sound business and management practices, County Executive Aaron Reardon said.
“He’s a great director,” Reardon said. “He does his job very well. He’s very business-oriented.”
Under Thompson, there is increased access to reliable information about what works, and what doesn’t, at the corrections department, said Susan Neely, an executive director in Reardon’s office who specializes in criminal justice matters.
“Problems aren’t just being laid at my feet,” Neely said. “It makes my job very easy. Questions that I hadn’t even thought of are answered.”
The approach is saving money.
In 2002, the corrections department ran up $2 million in overtime, a record for the department and double the budgeted amount. Despite belt-tightening, the corrections department finished that year $719,000 over budget, county finance director Roger Neumaier said.
Under Thompson, the department in 2003 not only reduced its overtime expenditures by nearly $500,000, but finished the year within budget, Neumaier said.
Since Thompson’s arrival, overtime spending has consistently been 60 percent or less of what it was.
“That’s incredible,” Neumaier said.
Thompson came to Snohomish County after retiring as director of the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention. He replaced Snohomish County’s former corrections director, Andrea Bynum, who was fired in April 2003.
Bynum insisted that she was a scapegoat for the county’s inability to address chronic overcrowding at the jail. She’s still exploring whether to bring a lawsuit, her attorney, Mitch Cogdill of Everett, said last week.
The county’s lockup in Everett, which was built to house 477 inmates, still routinely houses 600 or more, with many sleeping on mats on the floor.
Jail bookings rose by 3 percent in 2003, averaging 1,588 a day. At the same time, inmate population dipped an average of 11 percent. That’s largely due to a growing realization among county leaders that a maximum-security jail shouldn’t be warehousing people charged with nonviolent misdemeanors, Thompson said.
That doesn’t mean bad guys are being shown the door.
When Thompson took over, county leaders were poised to impose a cap on the maximum number of inmates in the jail. Once reached, excess prisoners would be released.
Thompson argued that the cap would send the wrong message to police and prosecutors – and crooks.
“I think that is the fastest way to undermine the integrity of the criminal justice system,” he said.
Thompson focused on making better use of existing jail space, including the lower-security lockup the county operates at Indian Ridge near Arlington.
He found the necessary staff in part by shutting down a makeshift minimum-security jail at the county fairgrounds in Monroe. That move shaved $500,000 in annual expenses. He’s also been an enthusiastic supporter of efforts to speed up the way the criminal justice system handles those awaiting prosecution for low-level, nonviolent offenses.
Over the past year, the average length of stay for jail inmates has dipped to 16.8 days, down from 19.4 days in 2002.
Corrections officers also have offered ideas for improving operations, Thompson said. One idea restricted the type of footwear worn by inmates, increasing jail safety. Another erased a backlog of 500 offenders who were supposed to serve jail time but hadn’t because of scheduling difficulties.
The corrections chief said he changed long-standing practices at the jail that didn’t make good business sense. For example, officers now receive most of their in-service training during regular work hours instead of doing it on overtime. He’s also stopped the practice of reflexively using overtime to plug absences without first trying to shift staff to meet short-term needs.
The next big challenge is centered in the new $86.5 million jail wing now under construction, Thompson said. Voters have twice rejected a tax increase to pay for its operation. There are no plans to ask again.
Thompson said he’s studying alternatives to help pay for its operation, including renting space at the new jail to house state and federal prisoners.
So far, Thompson has enjoyed a good working relationship with the department’s corrections officers and other union employees, said Tim Sullivan, business agent for Teamsters Local 763.
“He definitely has an open-door policy,” Sullivan said. “He is approachable. He definitely has made that clear.”
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
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