SEQUIM — Sequim residents who feel threatened or unsafe can take refuge in a downtown room that will lock behind them and call police dispatchers for help.

The room is located just inside the main entrance on the south side of the Sequim Civic Center at 152 W. Cedar St. It is to the left of the front door in the vestibule just outside the main building lobby.

This is believed to be the first “safe room” of its type in Clallam County, said Deputy Police Chief Sheri Crain.

“It is something that is new to the area,” she said.

A user who feels in danger should close the door after entering and push a red button on the east wall of the room, which will lock the door and trigger the building alarm, Crain said.

“There is a big red button. They push that. That locks the door and that keeps them safe,” Crain said.

The button “sends an alarm signal to the alarm company that will then notify and get police on the way,” she said.

“Clearly, response time won’t be instantaneous, but they will be safe in the room.”

The front door to the Civic Center is always unlocked, so “anybody, 24/7, could come in and use that phone to get a hold of police services,” Crain said.

Once locked, the room will remain inaccessible to the outside until police arrive and unlock it.

The door does open from the inside, even if locked.

Users “can get out,” Crain said. “They will not be locked in.”

Inside the room is a red phone that automatically dials 9-1-1 when the receiver is picked up.

The on-duty dispatcher will ask what the emergency is and send the appropriate responders.

If it is after regular business hours and there is no emergency, the dispatcher will place the caller on hold and will forward the call to the appropriate after-hours police representative.

“A lot of people come to the police department expecting to find a police officer and a lot of times of course after hours our doors are shut and our police officers are out on the road,” Crain said.

The old police facility in the Sequim Village Shopping Center “always had a phone outside that after hours you pick up the phone and that is how you get police assistance,” she said.

The door and walls of the safe room are reinforced to provide the user with an extra level of security, Crain said.

“It is a hardened room. It is a heightened layer of protection.”

The room can be used in situations such as domestic disputes when someone is running away from an assailant, Crain said.

“It is out there for the best of intentions. It is a ‘what if’ [scenario] that you hope never happens, but it is certainly there, and if it is needed, then we will all be thankful for it.”

The room is for police business only and should not be tampered with, Crain warned.

“People shouldn’t goof around with it because we do have a camera,” she said.

“You don’t want somebody coming in and pushing the button and then running out of there.”

The inspiration for the safe room came from visits to other police departments in the Pacific Northwest while the new Civic Center was being designed, Crain said.

The Civic Center was opened to the public in May.

Sequim Police “were doing a lot of site visits to police departments around Washington and Oregon, looking for strengths and weaknesses for new buildings, and we ran into several examples of safe rooms, and that is what prompted the idea,” Crain said.

“I know the first town I saw it in was Arlington Police Department.”

For more information about the safe room, phone the Sequim Police Department at 360-683-7227.

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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.