After an initial, failed attempt in the 1990s to improve electronic security at the King County Correctional Facility, the County initiated the Integrated Security Project in 2001 to replace the entire electronic security system in the jail. An analysis by jail security system experts reported that the existing security system needed to be replaced in order to avoid catastrophic failure with significant public safety repercussions. This report provides a post project review of the Integrated Security Project to enhance the security and operations of the King County Correctional Facility.

To be most useful, a project review and lessons-learned exercise should focus on what worked well on a project as well as what did not work so well. From an operational standpoint, the ISP security system upgrade has been a success. Other major successes and innovations include the following:

• Reassessing and terminating the predecessor project was a difficult but necessary decision.
• Adding other remodeling and major maintenance projects to the ISP enabled the county to complete those improvements while floors of the jail were vacated.
• Some of the added remodeling projects were identified in the OMP and designed to provide jail operational efficiencies.
• Executive-initiated and council-mandated independent oversight provided analysis and recommendations that proved valuable in improving the escorting and inmate relocation plan, resulting in a lower cost approach.
• Implementation of project management improvements recommended in 2007 improved communication and accountability for the remainder of the construction period.

FMD should review the lessons learned from the PMA report and consider modifications to division policies and procedures that would incorporate recommendations applicable to their wide range of projects, and that would enhance successful project delivery. Those areas for consideration include:

• Project execution plans that clearly spell out communication protocols and the roles and responsibilities of all key participating agencies.
• Criteria for selecting an appropriate delivery method for a specific capital project.
• Management of and monthly reporting of actual capital and operations costs (if applicable) compared to a baseline budget.
• For major projects, plan for adequate resources and require an estimating methodology for tracking and forecasting schedule and budget, such as earned value analyses.
• Completing project close out in a more timely manner.

Follow-up reports to this project are not available.

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