Echo Glen Boosts Security After Escape

SNOQUALMIE, WA — A juvenile detention facility where five teens escaped in late January is implementing several changes to its security measures to prevent future incidents, state officials announced Thursday.

According to court filings, five teens overpowered and assaulted staffers at the Echo Glen Children's Center on Jan. 26 before escaping in a state-owned vehicle. Four of the five teens have since been caught and all five face a slate of new felony charges related to the escape.

In a bulletin shared Thursday, the state Department of Children, Youth & Families said it established a Critical Incident Response Team on the same day of the escape, tasked with reviewing the incident and coming up with solutions to avoid similar events.

While that work continues, state officials said the facility had already implemented several changes, including requiring that maximum security residents wear bright uniforms and replacing on-site vehicles with electric carts. DCYF officials said they established a single point of entry for the facility and increased security rounds, with plans to also upgrade video surveillance systems.

Officials said a few other changes were already in progress when the escape happened:

• Initiation of gate replacement with a secure, cantilevered, sliding, key-card-controlled, video-activated gate. This has been in progress since April 2021, and the expected installation date is Feb. 8. Gates like this are custom fabricated and not available as stock items.
• A significant upgrade to the training protocol for new employees, including a five-week training academy.
• Modernization of physical intervention and de-escalation protocol, including staff training in best practices.
• A deep-dive security audit that has been planned for several months will start this month.

The sheriff's office is still searching for one of the teens in the escape but filed charges this week against all five boys, who range in age from 14 to 17. The latest was formally charged Friday and faces escape, kidnapping, unlawful imprisonment, robbery and vehicle theft allegations. The vehicle used in the escape has since been recovered.