Judges in Spokane County will soon have an easier time deciding whether to send people to jail before trial. The city and county court systems are rolling out a new risk assessment tool designed to free up space in the aging jail by making sure people aren’t held there simply because they’re too poor to pay a low-cost bond.

The tool called Spokane Assessment for Evaluation of Risk, or SAFER, was developed by Washington State University criminal justice professor Zach Hamilton, who looked at 13,000 Spokane County cases to determine which factors were correlated with greater risk.

“One of the hardest jobs we do as judges is making that release decision,” said Superior Court Judge Maryann Moreno. Looking at a defendant’s criminal history to try to figure out if they’ll show up to court can be “sort of like a Ouija board,” she said. “Having a risk score from the SAFER tool “allows me to make that decision much more confidently.”

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Spokesman-Review

After a bomb exploded in a WSU dorm in 1979, student resident advisor Deke Gassett (BA ’80, criminal justice and criminology) organized fundraising for the University police to acquire more protective Kevlar vests. While a drug enforcement agent just eight years later, Gassett himself was protected by a Kevlar vest, saved others’ lives, and won awards for his actions.

For service in his law enforcement career and volunteer community work, and for his unfailing support of all things Cougar, Gregory Michael “Deke” Gassett recently was honored with the WSU Alumni Association Alumni Achievement Award.

While at WSU 1976-80, Gassett volunteered at the WSU/community crisis center, was a mentor in the Whitman County juvenile probation office and earned a state of Washington volunteer award.

His career in law enforcement has included service for the state gambling commission and work for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.

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WSU News