by Carolyn Bick

A new report by the King County Auditor’s Office has revealed that the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention (DAJD) faces serious problems within its adult jails, including deaths that the department “could do more to prevent,” excessive uses of force that go under-reported, and subjecting Black people — particularly Black women — to discipline and distinctly higher levels of security based on faulty risk-assessment systems. At the same time, the report noted that the DAJD’s response appears to suggest that while the department agreed with the report’s findings, it may not change its policies or implement any recommendations made in the report. In some cases, the report said, it does not appear as though the DAJD understands why it needs to change these policies.