Pepper Spray Stops Prison Fight with Few Injuries

The dinner hour at Folsom State Prison in California erupted with fist fights on Wednesday, October 7, at about 7:30 pm. Over 120 prisoners were hitting each other with food trays and their fists in the dining hall brawl. Guards used pepper spray and ended the fight in just 15 minutes.

Eight inmates were taken to area hospitals for their injuries that were described as minor and not life-threatening. California State Corrections representative Lt. Anthony Gentile said that most injuries were simply bumps and bruises. Greater injuries would have been likely had the guards been unable to contain the fight so quickly.

Folsom State Prison is a medium security prison east of Sacramento, California and holds around 4,000 prisoners.

Prison fights are no small matter and can escalate to full scale riots in a matter of minutes with serious injuries and even deaths occurring. Prison guards and officials make every attempt to contain altercations quickly and with non-lethal means.

As the group of inmates in the dining hall was large (over 120) and the prison guards were outnumbered, physically intervention alone would not have subdued the fighting prisoners quick enough to avoid a riot. Pepper spray halted the inmates in their tracks and gave guards time to initiate a lockdown where all prisoners were returned to their cells so that prison officials could investigate the cause of the fight.

Effective use of pepper spray saved lives and prevented injuries by avoiding any escalation of the violence that was occurring. Pepper spray is an important piece of the arsenal used to keep both guards and inmates safe in prison.