TACOMA, Wash. — Video on social media captured an incident at the Remann Hall Juvenile Detention Center.
Tacoma Police say the incident happened on Monday evening at around 8 p.m., and one of the detainees live-streamed the event with a phone left behind by a staff member.
The video shows detainees damaging the facility and verbally berating a guard. At one point, you can see a makeshift barricade at the door to keep the guards out. Toward the end of the video, detainees break a window in an attempt to get outside before turning around.
Eventually, the detention center had to call the Tacoma Police Department for backup.
“We just got more officers there,” said TPD Officer Shelbie Boyd. “We had seven or eight officers on the scene, and they just talked to the kids, de-escalated the situation, and within about an hour, we were able to get them to their cells.”
A spokesperson from the center says five detainees had to be escorted back to their rooms.
No injuries were reported, and although Officer Shelbie Boyd says this isn’t a common occurrence at Remann Hall, it ended as best as it could.
“We see it as a success, no one got hurt, and at the end of the day, that’s what we hope is going to be the case,” she said. “With this situation, de-escalation is at the top of our list as the number one tool that we use in Tacoma. Just giving us the time, getting the manpower there, having the conversations with the youth inside the facility, that was our number one tool.”
Pierce County’s Prosecuting Attorney’s Office says it’s now waiting for more information from law enforcement before deciding if charges are necessary. Pierce County Juvenile Court says it will be reviewing the incident to see what needs to change to keep this from happening again.
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