Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma and members of the city council voiced their frustrations Tuesday over what they believe is the disproportionate placement of sex offenders by the Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) in Tacoma and Pierce County.

“We feel we are a dumping ground for sex offenders, and our citizens are sick of it,” said Mayor Baarsma, during the city council study session that included DOC representatives and Tacoma police officers. “Our council chambers are jammed with people fighting for their neighborhoods on this issue. We have more than our fair share.”

Councilmember Tom Stenger echoed those concerns. He cited statistics provided by DOC that show Pierce County is home to 2,897 sex offenders, with 1,006 residing in Tacoma. While King County is home to more sex offenders — 4,154 countywide, with 1,722 residing in Seattle — Stenger argued that Pierce County and Tacoma are less populated, and therefore should have fewer sex offenders in their neighborhoods.

According to the 2000 census, 1.7 million people live in King County, with 563,374 residing in Seattle; 700,000 people live in Pierce County, with 193,556 residing in Tacoma.

“Pierce County and Tacoma continue to be a dumping ground for these people,” said Stenger.

“I don’t think we dump people anywhere,” said Rick Hendricks, who works in the DOC Pierce County Sex Offender unit. The unit was formed two years ago to control the movements of sex offenders and work closely with police and prosecutors. Hendricks said the DOC has a criteria for placing sex offenders who are released from incarceration and sent to live in communities. The criteria includes whether a sex offender has previous ties to the community (such as family members), employment opportunities in the area, and accessible treatment providers. “I think we have done a good job the past couple years sticking to that criteria,” said Hendricks.

Dave Getty, also with the DOC Pierce County Sex Offender unit, said that cases are screened based upon that criteria. “If we don’t see ties to the community, we have been routinely denying cases.”

But Councilmember Rick Talbert disagreed. He said that he regularly tracks newspaper announcements of sex offenders placed in Pierce County from other parts of the state. “In seventy-percent of those cases,” said Talbert, “the sex offender was not from Pierce County.”

Getty told the mayor and city council that Pierce County has excelled in providing the treatment resources and facilities necessary to rehabilitate sex offenders. “Other counties are deficient in these services,” he added.

Still, several councilmembers argued that was no excuse for placing a disproportionate number of sex offenders in the south sound.

“As Pierce County was doing the right thing, others shirked their responsibilities,” said Talbert. “When it comes time to place these people, we shouldn’t be shouldering that burden. This is where we get most frustrated.”
Deputy Mayor Connie Ladenburg agreed.

“As a county, we might be guilty of having too many good resources and facilities,” she said.

“That’s what is most frustrating,” said Mayor Baarsma. “When we see these disparities, and the big city up north talks about crime-ridden Tacoma, but doesn’t take its fair share.”

The discussion Tuesday comes at a time when city leaders are taking steps to prevent high-risk and high-needs housing in Tacoma. On May 17, the council imposed a six-month moratorium on the establishment or acceptance of applications for land use permits for group homes, group residential facilities, and emergency and transitional housing.

Similarly, the city has paid close attention to a law passed Aug. 15 by the Issaquah City Council that severely restricts where sex offenders can live.