Pierce County CrimeWarp
- by: Living in Pierce County
- recipient: Pierce County Washington citizens
Pierce County has the worst violent crime rate in the State of Washington
Pierce County Prosecutor Gerry Horne has repeatedly called upon state officials to discontinue the saturation of Pierce County with offender programs, and he has vigorously asked all community leaders to present a united front demanding relief. In order to reduce our CrimeWarp, programs must be distributed fairly so that other counties get their proportional share of state convicts, including felony sex offenders.
Sign the petition now to support Gerry Horne in ending the CrimeWarp. Your comments will be shared with our elected officals, so speak up, speak out and speak clear.
CrimeWarp - What is it?
Pierce County has the worst violent crime rate in the State of Washington, despite the tremendous efforts by the Prosecutor%u2019s Office and our law enforcement partners. Pierce County convicts three times as many felons as Snohomish County and nearly as many as King County (which has 2.3 times our population). Prosecuting Attorney Gerry Horne has labeled this a CrimeWarp and traced it to the policies of the State Department of Corrections. This agency has saturated Pierce County with programs for offenders while counties to the north have not received proportional numbers of offenders. During the past 25 years, DOC has funneled thousands of convicts into work release and prerelease programs it has placed here in Pierce County. During that same period, Snohomish County received none, as DOC has placed no such programs there. Snohomish County%u2019s violent crime rate was cut in half while Pierce County%u2019s nearly doubled. Prosecutor Horne and his staff have been gathering and analyzing data which thus far supports the following:
Department of Corrections programs placed in Pierce County receive a large percentage of offenders from other counties. Data obtained from DOC via the Public Records Act show that 67% of men and women who went through work release and prerelease facilities in Pierce County received their original felony conviction in another county. This funneling of offenders into Pierce County occurs in part because DOC operates early release facilities in only 9 counties: 4 in Pierce (3 starting in 2005), 4 in King, 3 in Spokane, and one each in Kitsap, Thurston, Cowlitz, Clark, Yakima and Benton.(State Work Release / Pre-Release Facilities)
Sign the petition now to support Gerry Horne in ending the CrimeWarp. Your comments will be shared with our elected officals, so speak up, speak out and speak clear.
Once DOC brings offenders to Pierce County, they tend to stay here. DOC usually releases offenders to the county where the program is located. DOC policy states that %u201Cinmates are released to the county in which they have ties and ongoing support, which includes family and employment.%u201D Offenders in work release are required to find some form of employment. Data obtained from DOC shows that only 33 % of the offenders placed in work release here between 1998 and 2002 had Pierce County as the county of first felony conviction. But in FY2002, 83% of offenders finally released from work release programs located here were released to Pierce County.
Communities with higher populations of released offenders have higher crime rates. A 2002 Department of Justice report found that 67 % of state offenders are rearrested for a new crime within three years. Further, a report comparing DOC work release programs in several Washington counties showed that Pierce County work release facilities had the highest 5 year (1993-97) recidivism rate for felony convictions of those studied: 48%. According to the same report, that rate is higher than the recidivism rate of 43% for those persons released directly from prison!
Sign the petition now to support Gerry Horne in ending the CrimeWarp. Your comments will be shared with our elected officals, so speak up, speak out and speak clear.
Conclusion
Prosecutor Horne has repeatedly called upon state officials to discontinue the saturation of Pierce County with offender programs, and he has vigorously asked all community leaders to present a united front demanding relief. In order to reduce our CrimeWarp, programs must be distributed fairly so that other counties get their proportional share of state convicts, including felony sex offenders.
Sign the petition now to support Gerry Horne in ending the CrimeWarp. Your comments will be shared with our elected officals, so speak up, speak out and speak clear.
Pierce County has the worst violent crime rate in the State of Washington
Pierce County Prosecutor Gerry Horne has repeatedly called upon state officials to discontinue the saturation of Pierce County with offender programs, and he has vigorously asked all community leaders to present a united front demanding relief. In order to reduce our CrimeWarp, programs must be distributed fairly so that other counties get their proportional share of state convicts, including felony sex offenders.
Sign the petition now to support Gerry Horne in ending the CrimeWarp. Your comments will be shared with our elected officals, so speak up, speak out and speak clear.
CrimeWarp - What is it?
Pierce County has the worst violent crime rate in the State of Washington, despite the tremendous efforts by the Prosecutor%u2019s Office and our law enforcement partners. Pierce County convicts three times as many felons as Snohomish County and nearly as many as King County (which has 2.3 times our population). Prosecuting Attorney Gerry Horne has labeled this a CrimeWarp and traced it to the policies of the State Department of Corrections. This agency has saturated Pierce County with programs for offenders while counties to the north have not received proportional numbers of offenders. During the past 25 years, DOC has funneled thousands of convicts into work release and prerelease programs it has placed here in Pierce County. During that same period, Snohomish County received none, as DOC has placed no such programs there. Snohomish County%u2019s violent crime rate was cut in half while Pierce County%u2019s nearly doubled. Prosecutor Horne and his staff have been gathering and analyzing data which thus far supports the following:
Department of Corrections programs placed in Pierce County receive a large percentage of offenders from other counties. Data obtained from DOC via the Public Records Act show that 67% of men and women who went through work release and prerelease facilities in Pierce County received their original felony conviction in another county. This funneling of offenders into Pierce County occurs in part because DOC operates early release facilities in only 9 counties: 4 in Pierce (3 starting in 2005), 4 in King, 3 in Spokane, and one each in Kitsap, Thurston, Cowlitz, Clark, Yakima and Benton.(State Work Release / Pre-Release Facilities)
Sign the petition now to support Gerry Horne in ending the CrimeWarp. Your comments will be shared with our elected officals, so speak up, speak out and speak clear.
Once DOC brings offenders to Pierce County, they tend to stay here. DOC usually releases offenders to the county where the program is located. DOC policy states that %u201Cinmates are released to the county in which they have ties and ongoing support, which includes family and employment.%u201D Offenders in work release are required to find some form of employment. Data obtained from DOC shows that only 33 % of the offenders placed in work release here between 1998 and 2002 had Pierce County as the county of first felony conviction. But in FY2002, 83% of offenders finally released from work release programs located here were released to Pierce County.
Communities with higher populations of released offenders have higher crime rates. A 2002 Department of Justice report found that 67 % of state offenders are rearrested for a new crime within three years. Further, a report comparing DOC work release programs in several Washington counties showed that Pierce County work release facilities had the highest 5 year (1993-97) recidivism rate for felony convictions of those studied: 48%. According to the same report, that rate is higher than the recidivism rate of 43% for those persons released directly from prison!
Sign the petition now to support Gerry Horne in ending the CrimeWarp. Your comments will be shared with our elected officals, so speak up, speak out and speak clear.
Conclusion
Prosecutor Horne has repeatedly called upon state officials to discontinue the saturation of Pierce County with offender programs, and he has vigorously asked all community leaders to present a united front demanding relief. In order to reduce our CrimeWarp, programs must be distributed fairly so that other counties get their proportional share of state convicts, including felony sex offenders.
Sign the petition now to support Gerry Horne in ending the CrimeWarp. Your comments will be shared with our elected officals, so speak up, speak out and speak clear.
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