Leadership Profile

As New Clallam Bay Superintendent, Fraker will Continue Progress Made in Reducing Violence

By Chad Lewis, West Team Leader, Communications

Clallam Bay Superintendent Ron Fraker

Being the Superintendent at any prison is challenging. Being the Superintendent at Clallam Bay Corrections Center is challenging in unique ways.

“It’s in a remote location with a violent inmate population,” Deputy Prisons Director Dan Pacholke said. “You’ve got to have somebody who is a steady leader and someone who is resourceful.”

Given those necessary criteria, prison administrators selected Ron Fraker as the new Superintendent at Clallam Bay. Fraker has been Acting Superintendent since January when the previous Superintendent, Karen Brunson, retired.

“It’s a big honor and one that I take seriously,” Fraker said. “I’m fortunate to come in at a time when we’ve made progress in recent years, so my goal is to keep that momentum.”

Fraker has been the Associate Superintendent for Security and Operations since June 2005, a time in which violent incidents declined. The number of violent incidents dropped 16 percent from 2007 to 2008.

“Ron’s appointment reinforces DOC’s commitment to maintaining safe prisons and how much his efforts are appreciated,” said Prisons Director Dick Morgan, who is a former Clallam Bay Superintendent himself. “This is not a case where we just wanted to maintain the status quo. We want to give Ron the opportunity to continue the outstanding work he’s done so far.”

Inmates at Clallam Bay tend to be younger than those at other prisons with medium and maximum-security populations. Inmates there also are more likely to have committed a violent offense.

Fraker says key reasons for the reduction in violence include an increased focus on programs available to inmates and a philosophical change in how staff members interact with inmates.

“In the past if an inmate refused to come out of his cell we would automatically have officers forcibly extract him,” Fraker said. “Now our initial action is to use crisis negotiators in those situations, which reduced staff injuries and showed inmates that they don’t have to resort to violence.”

Pacholke said Fraker was also selected because he has shown that he can be innovative.

“Clallam Bay is the most remote prison in our state,” Pacholke said. “You don’t have a lot of resources nearby, so you have to be innovative during a crisis and during day-to-day operations, and Ron has shown that ability.”

A native of nearby Forks, Fraker spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force after he graduated from high school. After he retired from the military, he and his wife moved to Port Angeles.

Fraker was hired as a correctional officer at Clallam Bay in January 1990, making him the first Superintendent at the prison to have started as a correctional officer.

“I think that helps me relate to our staff members,” Fraker said. “They know I understand what it’s like to work here and what it takes to succeed here.”

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