Amid decline in juvenile arrests, state boot camp closes

Beneath the razor wire, next to the fence door where kids entered Camp Outlook read a sign: “More than a Boot Camp.”

It was a point of pride for the camp’s last director, Harold Wright.

In the tiny town of Connell in Franklin County, teenagers convicted of crimes would get a dose old-school discipline: situps, push-ups, running. But they also got behavioral therapy, job training and help finishing their education.

“Sound body and sound mind,” Wright described it, adding: “We tried to rid them of those past behaviors.”

Even as military-style camps for juveniles elsewhere acquired a darker reputation — some were shut down after the deaths of boys and girls — Washington state’s camp remained. A…