Lynnwood Community Justice Center Project

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The City of Lynnwood is moving forward on a project to rebuild and reimagine our Community Justice Center. We are excited to be designing and building a purpose-built police department, a re-imagined misdemeanor jail, and a remodeled court, which will allow us the necessary space and function to bring the best justice services to our community. This unique collaboration continues and strengthens our partnership with the Community Health Center of Snohomish County. It brings rehabilitative services and options to address and reduce the underlying causes of recidivism. By providing this additional support, the goal is to provide a path out of the criminal justice system. This project is specifically programmed around increased community access and involvement, and alternatives to the traditional criminal justice system, while maintaining effective levels of community safety in our growing city. IDENTIFIED LIMITATIONS Over the last 24 years, three space needs examinations have been completed of the current police department – occurring in 1999, 2004 and 2009. All three of these studies concluded that the current police facility lacks appropriate space and functionality. Recognizing the demands and expectations of law enforcement continue to increase – infrastructure must meet those demands. For example, in 2018, the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) operation was assigned to the Police Department. Currently, the City's EOC is located at Fire Station 15, which is a South County Fire Building. It is unknown how long the City will be afforded the use of this space. The new Lynnwood Community Justice Center (LCJC) will include space for the EOC, which will be housed in a multi-use community room. COMMUNITY COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES We are committed to providing compassionate care and housing for every individual in the current detention facility. We also believe we are ethically obligated to improve the current cycle of incarceration of many of our justice involved community members and provide opportunities for individuals to successfully leave the criminal justice system. Our current facility has no space to provide for the programming and continuity of care options our justice-involved community members need and require. We are excited to expand our current partnership with the Community Health Center of Snohomish County in a facility purpose built to provide enhanced care and rehabilitative services knowing that continuity of care will now be possible when a person leaves the facility.

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