‘Swift and Certain’ police helps keep parolees accountable

EVERETT — He greeted them as though they were old friends dropping in for a social call.

The stocky man led the women into the halfway house.

“This is where I live,” he said, walking into a sparsely decorated room with a cast-iron radiator against a wall.

They made small talk as the community corrections officers scanned his room.

Officer Andrea Holmes said she’d bring the Everett man a calendar to keep track of his medical, counseling and support-group appointments.

A smoker, he asked if there is any chance he’ll be able to get a lighter one of these days.

Not now, Holmes told him with good reason. He has two arson convictions.

As cordial as the conversation was, the visitors kept a professional distance.

The man’s rap sheet dates back a quarter century to his teens in Los Angeles. He also has a history of mental illness that at one point included delusions of large growling green aliens. He also was convinced he could control the sun and change the weather.

The Everett man is 41. He’s one of more than 17,000 felons in the state on community supervision and was one of many stops Holmes and fellow community corrections officer Darcell Prescott made on this day in early May.

When a visitor asked the man about “Swift and Certain,” a state Department of Corrections policy that can take back his freedom for minor violations, he nodded.

It’s always in the back of his mind, he said.

“I understand it,” he said, before breaking into a smile, “I’m allergic to that right now.”

He’s been doing well, Holmes said. He’s coping and better able to recognize when he’s getting anxious and needs to seek out help.

Washington began using “Swift and Certain” in 2012, partly to address a budget crisis. It imposes brief but immediate punishment behind bars for felons under supervision who violate conditions of their release. Those can include not reporting to corrections officers, failing drug tests or missing treatment.

The idea is to crank up accountability with quick incarceration. Most stays are in the one- to three-day range, but they increase up to 30 days based on the frequency and the seriousness of the violation. The jailings typically are a lot shorter for probation violations than they were before the policy was adopted.

The goals behind the policy are multifold: to reduce the number of violations and sanctions resulting in confinement; to cut down on parolees committing new crimes; to increase the number of offenders getting drug and alcohol treatment; and to save money.

A recent Washington State University study found all those objectives are being met.

The likelihood of ending up back behind bars dipped by roughly 20 percent and the duration was reduced by an average of 16 days during an offender’s first year of release from prison.

Offenders also were more likely to get substance abuse and behavioral therapy.

Anmarie Aylward, the state’s assistant secretary overseeing community corrections, said offenders are understanding the rules and changing their behaviors.

There is little wiggle room for interpretation.

“The consequence is on them,” Aylward said.

These days, local violators are taken to a separate lockup at the Monroe Correctional Complex. The unit has 100 beds. The state tries to keep it at 85.

“We can definitely fill it and we have filled it,” said Kelly Miller, Northwest Region Field administrator for the corrections department. Her territory stretches from Snohomish County to the Canadian border.

Holmes and Prescott were community corrections officers before and after “Swift and Certain” was adopted.

Prescott likes that the rules set “clear boundaries and expectations,” she said. That works well in most cases. However, like many other officers, she thinks it is important to have some level of discretion. There are times when they don’t want to see some offenders with special circumstances lose ground when they are making progress and risk losing momentum in treatment and counseling.

“Sometimes it seems like jail doesn’t make sense,” she said.

The WSU report made a similar observation, saying “Swift and Certain might not be appropriate for all offender types, including those with significant mental health diagnoses and active drug-alcohol addictions.”

The state has been trying to address those concerns.

It has established two work crew pilot programs, including one in Everett, where offenders are able to avoid lockup and remain in the community. Some can be seen picking up trash along highways.

Miller, who oversees the community corrections office in Everett, said “Swift and Certain” is making a difference.

Data has shown a reduction in recidivism, which was Miller’s biggest fear four years ago when the change was made.

“That structure and consistency is what works,” she said.

Washington is the only place to use “Swift and Certain” statewide, although similar programs are found in other parts of the country.

These days corrections leaders from other states are taking a look at Washington and asking questions about the shorter, more predictable punishments that seem to work.

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446; stevick@heraldnet.com.