OLYMPIA, Wash. — Calling Washington’s maximum security juvenile lockup a place “of chaos and lawlessness,” the state Senate’s Republican leader is renewing his demand that Gov. Jay Inslee order an investigation into the Green Hill School.
In a letter sent to the governor’s office Friday, Sen. John Braun (R-Chehalis) called for “…a complete and credible investigation into the staff, policies, procedures, and executive mismanagement at Green Hill.”
The letter cites a KING 5 Investigators story that aired Feb. 6 revealing continuing drug crimes and misconduct inside Green Hill. That story followed a November expose on fentanyl and other contraband in which Gov. Inslee said that things are on the “up and up” at Green Hill and there are “stronger measures to keep drugs out.”
“I assure you that things are not improving, assaults are more frequent, and drugs are still flowing into Green Hill School,” Braun wrote. His letter referenced KING 5’s research showing thirty-four 911 calls from Green Hill and numerous fentanyl overdoses since Inslee’s statement.
“John Braun’s cynical opportunism isn’t going to improve Green Hill,” Inslee's spokesperson Mike Faulk replied in an email. Faulk called it political opportunism and said, “Braun is happy to recycle the same polemics since apparently it merits a story every time…."
Earlier this week, the governor’s office admitted that “more work is necessary” to keep Green Hill residents and staff safe. The legislature passed a law that allows the state to house inmates at Green Hill past the age of 21, up to age 25.
This requires a “transformational shift” in operations, Inslee's office said, because Green Hill was “…designed to house and serve children and teenagers, not young adults who have a history of violence and gang activity.” The state is considering options for adding more space, surveillance, staff and equipment. It also blames the onslaught of fentanyl, which is a problem in many jail and prison facilities.
“Adults do not belong locked up with children,” Sen. Braun wrote, with a dig at Inslee signing the law that raised the age of offenders housed at Green Hill to age 25. “The change was poorly implemented and what we are seeing now is the disastrous fallout.”
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