Investigators said video shows corrections officers violating pepper spray policy.
OLYMPIA, Wash. — A confrontation between an inmate and corrections officers at a Washington state women’s prison prompted policy changes after investigators found officers violated protocol during the September 2024 incident.
The altercation occurred at the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor, where an inmate argued with officers over shower scheduling, slipped out of her handcuffs, refused to comply with orders, and ultimately swung at one of the officers.
She was tackled and two officers sprayed the offender with pepper spray.
The encounter was recorded on video by a Department of Corrections staff member.
DOC Secretary Tim Lang said that while officers acted professionally for most of the incident, what happened near the end of the footage troubled him.
“I was pretty disturbed by what I saw and specifically staff spraying OC, or pepper spray, within inches of her eyes,” Lang said.
His concerns aligned with findings from a report compiled by the Office of Corrections Ombuds, which determined that officers violated state policy by failing to maintain a distance of more than 3 feet from the offender while deploying pepper spray.
An internal investigation at the prison resulted in a supervisor being reassigned to a different unit, while the two officers who deployed the pepper spray received counseling, but faced no formal discipline.
“In my view, that was not significant enough discipline,” said Lang, noting that labor agreements prevented a second disciplinary review once the facility-level process concluded.
In response to the incident, the Department of Corrections implemented two key changes: all use-of-force cases from the facility now route through DOC headquarters for review, and staff carrying pepper spray received additional training on its proper use.
Madison Vincent, Assistant Corrections Ombuds of Policy for the Office of Corrections Ombuds, said the reforms appear to be working.
“We definitely have seen a lot of beneficial changes,” Vincent said, noting a decrease in use-of-force incidents since the report was released last June.
“We pride ourselves in operating a safe and humane correction system. Those are our values. And I don’t think that what you saw in that video lived up to our values,” said Lang.
The inmate involved has since served her sentence and was released last summer. Her attorney declined to comment.
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