The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
55°F
Current Conditions
Broken clouds
View complete weather report

Color Scheme

Subscribe now

Spokane police use array of less lethal devices to subdue individuals, disperse crowds

Smoke begins to drop into a crowd of several hundred who arrived from the "ICE OUT" protest held in Riverfront Park and joined the anti-ICE protest around the old Broadview Dairy on the north side of Riverfront Park Wednesday, June 11, 2025. The earlier protesters were attempting to prevent people arrested by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency from being put in a van and sending them to the detention center in Tacoma. After a large group of Spokane Police Department secured the area around the ICE office, the larger group showed up and were dispersed by smoke cannisters and pepper balls. (Jesse Tinsley/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
By Rob Kauder robk@spokesman.com(509) 459-5314

The Spokane Police Department has a number of “less lethal” devices it can use to subdue people and disperse crowds, some of which officers deployed during Wednesday’s protest at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in north Spokane.

While some devices target an individual, others are used to disperse a group.

An officer directly engaging an individual has several devices available, including batons and “conducted energy weapons” (Taser device).

The department has also used other less-lethal direct engagement devices, including beanbag rounds fired from shotguns and rubber bullets.

An “area effect” device, however, is used only in a specific situation, and with a specific release authority, in order to engage a group of people.

Oleoresin Capsicum (OC), known more commonly as pepper spray, is a chemical agent that officers carry on their duty belt and can be used to subdue someone “who is demonstrating non-compliance perceived as assaultive,” according to the Spokane Police Department policy manual.

However, a pepper spray can has a limited range, which is why the department in 2021 asked for and later received city council approval, on a 6-1 vote, to purchase 100 PepperBall launchers and the ammunition for those devices. PepperBall launchers look and operate similar to a paintball gun in that they are powered by CO2 cartridges and can shoot small plastic balls filled with a powdered version of OC.

When shot out of the launcher, the plastic balls are designed, like a paintball, to shatter on impact and release the OC. The launchers have the ability to engage people up to 150 feet away, which is a significant distance compared to pepper spray.

Another area effect device, which is more restricted in its use due in part to the department requirements for its deployment, is CS gas, more commonly known as tear gas.

According to the 2023 edition of the Spokane Police Department policy manual, CS is allowed for deployment in hostage situations, dealing with a barricaded person and a riot. The use of CS requires a checklist that officers at the scene must perform, including:

• Use other alternatives to de-escalate the situation.

• Obtain permission from a supervisor who will determine whether the situation meets the threshold for use of tear gas.

• Announce their intent to use tear gas and allow sufficient time for a person to comply with the officer’s orders.

If the situation is a riot, the final approval for deployment of tear gas rests with the mayor.

When a peaceful protest over the death of George Floyd turned into a riot in downtown Spokane back in 2020, the police department would have had to get authorization from the mayor at the time, Nadine Woodward, to use tear gas.

During the protest on Wednesday, however, police did order the crowd to disperse and some officers did put on gas masks, but instead of deploying tear gas, they dispersed the crowd by lobbing a number of smoke grenades, which emitted clouds of smoke over a wide area.