Opinion
by Richard Kirkham
Contributing Editor- Megan McAllister
Editor’s Note: Richard Kirkham wrote this article while awaiting trial in the Whatcom County Interim Work Center.
For more than two decades, officials in Whatcom County have been campaigning for a new Mega Jail. Their goal? Increase incarceration in the name of public safety. This begs the question: Does incarceration increase public safety?
This has been a polarizing issue in the county since at least the 1970s. When Whatcom was preparing to build the downtown jail in 1978, Larry Fehr, of the Northwest Regional Council noted the goal was to build a more “secure” and “humane” jail, and “relieve” overcrowding. (1) Sound familiar?
One complaint Fehr voiced was the old jail placed young, first-time offenders with “hardened criminals.” Fehr recognized that young offenders would be negatively influenced or harmed by the old hands. This sentiment was echoed by corrections officers and U.S. Judges: “I am confident that a child is unlikely to succeed in the long, difficult process of rehabilitation when his teachers during confinement are adult criminals.” (2)
I am a prime example. On the streets at 13, drug addicted by 15, and in county jail at 18, I was the epitome of a struggling youth needing guidance. Instead of services, I got countless jail stays, with only experienced criminals to mold and shape my young mind. Small wonder that, by the time I was 20, I had 22 convictions, seven of them felonies. Our communities were not safer as a result of locking me up.
Detrimental Impact
Making young offenders into criminal protégés is only one threat jails pose to public safety. The U.S. Supreme Court said that “time spent in jail … has a detrimental impact on the individual.” It results in loss of jobs, disrupts family life, enforces idleness, and subjects citizens to public scorn. (3)
Consider, then, what this means for the average offender who makes a mistake. Joblessness, disruptions in family life, and idleness are logically followed by broken relationships and homelessness. This often leads to increased substance use and social deviance. When life is in shambles, it can be hard to rebuild. Especially when one already has underlying social or behavioral issues, and their needs continue unmet. Incarceration does not help people, it harms them. And hurt people hurt people.
When the current jail downtown opened on November 5, 1984, protesters garbed in classic prison attire chained themselves to the new facility. “What people need is help,” said protestor Ted Smith. His comrade, Scott Renfro, said Whatcom County should have invested in treatment centers and training programs, not a new jail. “It doesn’t offer any hope. Institutions should be designed to help people get over the problems that caused them to do the lawbreaking.” (4) We have been facing the same crises for decades — and a new jail didn’t work in 1984. Why would it work now?
Whatcom County residents agree. In 2015, voters rejected a tax increase to fund a larger jail. Recycled narratives about public safety and overcrowding did not fool most locals. (5) In 2017, voters again rejected a new jail. The public was clear: they wanted alternatives to incarceration. An article detailing concerns about a new jail described a 21-year-old with a full page of convictions and asked: “How did this happen?” (6) How indeed.
Tax Collections Began in 2024
In 2023, county officials changed their tactics to appeal to the demands of the people. Their new pitch had a major focus on treatment and behavioral health services. With 15 public safety projects, only one of them was building a new jail. (7) Voters approved the comprehensive plan in November 2023. “Increased tax collections began in April 2024, which is when county and city officials pulled the ole switcheroo?”
Once revenues began rolling in, county officials entered into an Interlocal Agreement with Whatcom County cities to guarantee the voter-approved Public Health, Safety and Justice Sales Tax could only be spent on constructing a new jail until at least 2030. (8) It almost looks like the Implementation Plan’s 14 other public safety projects were thrown in to fool voters into approving a new jail they’d repeatedly rejected. Almost.
Whatcom County does not need a new jail. Locking up our neighbors temporarily without addressing their underlying material needs or behavioral issues does not create public safety. Warehousing so-called offenders can only delay further social deviance, at best. At worst, it equips them with the need, thinking, and motivation to further trek a troubling path; when one has nothing, one has nothing to lose.
Whatcom County needs programs and services proven to increase positive outcomes for our neighbors in crises. The majority of community members that officials seek to incarcerate are not dangerous. Most commonly, they struggle with substance use, mental or behavioral health concerns, are unhoused and impoverished, or lack education and opportunity. They have needs which we can meet with proper investment — the investment we voted for. We can permanently eliminate the supposed need for incarceration by addressing the root causes of antisocial behavior.
References
- The Bellingham Herald, July 30, 1978
- United States v. Calloway, 505 F.2d 311, 318 (1974); citing United States v. Bland, 153 U.S.App.D.C. 254 (1972)
- Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 532-33, n. 34 (1979)
- The Bellingham Herald, June 1984
- The Bellingham Herald, June 28, 2015
- The Bellingham Herald, October 29, 2017
- Justice Project Implementation Plan, June 2023
- Interlocal Agreement ¶15(a)-(d)
