Michelle Woodrow, President and Executive Director of Teamsters 117, issued the following statement regarding the incident that took place last night at the Monroe Correctional Complex (MCC):

“We are extremely proud of our members’ response to the disturbance that occurred last night at the Monroe Correctional Complex. Despite the challenging nature of the incident and the large number of incarcerated individuals involved, corrections staff were able to secure the impacted parts of the facility in less than an hour.

Due to the swift and effective response of our members, the Department of Corrections is reporting no injuries to staff or the inmate population. We are grateful to the first responders – the Washington State Patrol, local law enforcement, firefighters, and EMTs – who assisted our members in the rapid response to the incident.

At the Monroe facility and in prisons across our State, our members are working diligently to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They are adhering to social distancing protocols, implementing initial screening of all people entering the prisons, and testing, treating, and isolating symptomatic individuals. They are working tirelessly to protect the health, safety and well-being of everyone in our State prison system.

These are stressful, frightening times for our entire community, especially so for essential corrections personnel and all incarcerated individuals. We owe tremendous gratitude to corrections staff for responding to emergency incidents like the one that occurred in Monroe last night with care and professionalism. Our members put their lives on the line to protect all of us. We are grateful for their service.”