Restricted area on West Capitol Campus no longer in place; fence to be removed

OLYMPIA – An order restricting access to portions of West Capitol Campus since January is no longer in place, and that means fencing surrounding the area will come down. Removal work is scheduled for Tuesday morning.

In a statement, Department of Enterprise Services (DES) Director Chris Liu said: “I’m pleased to announce that we’re removing the temporary construction fencing on West Campus. It was an important measure to protect free speech rights, the democratic process and government operations. We are hopeful that political temperatures will continue to cool and that threat levels or illegal activity will not necessitate such security measures again. However, there are still many unknowns as to how our security environment will continue evolve into the future. I want to emphasize that it is a priority for DES Capitol Security and Washington State Patrol to not only protect public safety, but to help ensure that all sides have the opportunity to legally exercise their free speech rights and peaceably assemble.”

DES Capitol Security and WSP constantly monitor and adjust as security and safety needs arise on the campus, and are prepared and ready for a wide range of scenarios.

Security level change announcements

DES will keep people informed about future access changes via regular communication channels including campus bulletins, news releases, the DES website and social media.

If access levels change rapidly due to an active incident, people will receive a message from the emergency alert system for Capitol Campus (WA Agency Alerts).

Campus employees are automatically enrolled in the WA Agency Alerts system.

The public can sign up for text message alerts:

  • Text CAMPUSALERT to 888-777 to receive alerts on an ongoing basis.
  • Text CAMPUSGUEST to 888-777 to receive alerts for one week.