Leadership Profile: Dan Van Ogle, Associate Superintendent, Stafford Creek Corrections Center

By Joseph L. Mitchell, IT/Web Communications

Dan Van Ogle Associate Superintendent at Stafford Creek Corrections Center
Dan Van Ogle

One could say that Dan Van Ogle has written the book on new prisons in this state. He was involved in the start-up of Stafford Creek Corrections Center before it was constructed, and in 2000 he helped open the facility.

 “I was a sergeant at Airway Heights when I transferred and took on a project to develop a manual on how to open a correctional facility,” Van Ogle explained. “The manual captures the details and related tasks needed to open Stafford Creek. It allows us to replicate the process for any new prison.”

Van Ogle’s recent appointment to Associate Superintendent of Programs at Stafford Creek is a homecoming for the 14-year DOC veteran.  He supervises 100 staff members and is directly responsible for the program managers who oversee the facility’s living units, religious programs, recreation activities, and community involvement programs. Van Ogle started his new job Sept. 16.

“Dan has worked in a variety of positions and has management experience in both custody and classification,” said Stafford Creek Superintendent Patrick Glebe. “He’s from the Grays Harbor area and has good connections in the community which is a benefit for us.”

Van Ogle is also the facility’s therapeutic community liaison, and the education program liaison with Grays Harbor Community College. Part of his role at the facility will be to generate community interest in prison programs and get more volunteers involved.

“Our programs are often successful primarily because of volunteers,” said Van Ogle. “They are a valuable resource I can help tap into.” 

Before his current stint at Stafford Creek, Van Ogle served as Associate Superintendent of Security and Operations at Washington Corrections Center (WCC) where he oversaw all uniform custody staff, the transportation unit, maintenance staff, the training department, the roster office and hearings staff.

“WCC was the most challenging time of my career,” said Van Ogle. “The Reception and Diagnostic Center is the fastest paced facility in this agency. Our biggest challenges were to find ways to participate in sustainability programs across the state, reduce overtime expenditures, and reduce offender violence.”

Van Ogle said that reducing violence was an especially complex task because of uncertainly about the types of inmates the facility was receiving from county jails.

“It was really an unpredictable situation because you just never knew what you were getting,” he said.

Van Ogle led the development and implementation of the facility’s offender violence reduction strategies by convening a violence mitigation workgroup comprised of a cross section of Washington Corrections Center staff members from various departments. As of July 2009, the prison had reduced the number of violent infractions to its lowest level ever.

“We met our goal of achieving less than one violent infraction per 100 offenders,” said Van Ogle. “We went back to the basics -- keeping security threat groups separated, maintaining good communication regarding threats or potential threats, and using video cameras. We also used offenders to conduct new offender orientation classes on ways to avoid violence in prison.”

Van Ogle said that engaging staff in solving problems and improving work processes is part of a leadership style he learned from mentors who taught him that you can’t make people follow you – they have to want to follow you.

“Dan is inclusive and collaborative,” said Doug Waddington, Washington Corrections Center Superintendent and one of Van Ogle’s mentors. “He brings in line staff, unit managers and people at different levels to identify issues, and listens to those who are closest to the solution.”

“The way I lead is to give people opportunity, let them prove themselves, and offer support to develop trust,” says Van Ogle. “I strive on a daily basis to recognize the accomplishments of staff. We can never receive enough recognition.”

Van Ogle began his career as an officer at Clallam Bay Corrections Center after graduating from Western Washington University with a degree in criminology. He and his wife Melissa have two sons.

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