CLALLAM BAY — Clallam Bay Corrections Center was put on lockdown Wednesday morning after officers found contraband in the medium-security unit late Tuesday.
The contraband included a cell phone, a DVD player and several DVDs, said Denise Larson, public information officer, in a written statement.
Ten inmates were put in solitary confinement after the search, she said. They remained there late in the day on Wednesday, she added.
The prison was placed on lockdown so that prison staff could search for more contraband.
“We haven’t yet found more,” Larson said on Wednesday afternoon.
Prison officials had not determined on Wednesday when the lockdown will end, she said.
When a prison is on lockdown, the programs for the day are canceled and inmates are not allowed to leave their cells.
“Unless there is a medical issue, they cannot leave,” Larson said.
Larson said she didn’t know how many lockdowns per year are typical at the prison.
“It really just depends,” she said.
The last major lockdown was a year ago, in January 2008.
That lockdown, which lasted about one week, was prompted by a fight that broke out among inmates.
“We haven’t had any incidents or fights or anything like that in this case,” Larson said.
In addition to the prison-wide search, investigators are interviewing inmates to determine how the contraband entered the prison.
“We realize that there will always been a certain amount of contraband in all prisons,” Acting Superintendent Ron Fraker said.
“But we’ll continue to do everything we can do with the resources we have to keep contraband out, because contraband decreases safety for staff and inmates.”
The items were found as part of a routine cell search, the written statement said.
Clallam Bay Corrections Center houses about 850 inmates.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
