McNeil prison improves protocols

McNEIL ISLAND, Wash. – An investigation of an escape attempt by a convicted child molester from the McNeil Island state prison revealed a string of mistakes, confusion and chaos and has prompted security improvements.

If it hadn’t been for the “good instincts” and sharp eyes of Officer Jason R. Meyers, “this team is convinced offender (Donald) Dravis would have made it to the mainland,” investigators wrote in a Corrections Department report.

Investigators also acknowledged, however, that even Meyers “did not follow emergency response guidelines.”

Officers mentioned in the report would not comment through prison officials to the News Tribune of Tacoma, which obtained it in response to a public records request.

After Dravis walked out of the prison gate in December and boarded a ferry, investigators found that prison staff apparently didn’t know what to do in an emergency, the escape siren wasn’t sounded, the shift commander wasn’t notified immediately and an escape response procedure wasn’t initiated for 25 minutes.

The episode resulted in a 30-point improvement plan, some of which has been implemented, the News Tribune reported.

The report recommended the prison develop a process for updating offenders’ photos, revise orders concerning verifying identification and increase staff emergency training.

The last escape from McNeil was in 1992 when rapist Timothy Webb hid in a tractor-trailer being taken by barge to the mainland. He was arrested in Spokane a week later.

Dravis’ getaway attempt has made officials in all of Washington’s 15 prisons more aware of the need for preparedness, deputy prisons director Earl X. Wright said.

“We don’t have a great number of escapes,” he said, “… but because we don’t have them on a regular basis, we’re always challenged to stay at the level of alert we need to be at.”