About two weeks ago, a female inmate booked in Lowndes County Adult Detention Center snuck drugs into the jail’s general population area.
She shared the drugs with other inmates, Sheriff Eddie Hawkins said, and by the time detention officers got wind of what had happened, there was no contraband to recover. It took a series of interviews, drug tests and confessions to identify all the partakers.
A body scanner that X-rays inmates when they are booked could have helped officers stop those drugs from getting into the jail, Hawkins said. County supervisors have authorized him to shop for one.
“It’s real similar to the equipment you’d see at an airport that TSA would use,” Hawkins told The Dispatch on Thursday. “… Basically we’re trying to eliminate any inmate bringing contraband into the facility.”
Supervisors on Monday approved spending up to $125,000 for a body scanner, though Hawkins said that figure “may need to be revised” to cover higher than expected quotes he’s received. The county is also checking if it can buy the scanner directly from a vendor on state contract or if it will need to advertise for bids.
If all goes well, Hawkins said, the 288-bed jail that sees an average of six to 10 new bookings per day could be using the equipment by the end of the year.
Hawkins said the scanner could detect anything abnormal, whether it’s contraband, piercings, implants or medical devices, like a pacemaker.
The scans take three to four seconds, and it takes about 10 seconds for trained officers to read them, Hawkins said.
Officers would be trained to read the scans and determine if the inmate is hiding contraband.
“You can adjust the contrast, the lighting,” Hawkins said. “You can change it from black-and-white to color, and it shows different definitions of contraband and where it can be concealed, whether it’s concealed on the person, whether it’s taped to their body or something like that. It shows how to identify those different items, whether it be a razorblade or a bag of drugs.”
It will also show if the inmate has swallowed a foreign object or hid something in a body cavity.
“We bring suspects into the jail all the time that … when they get arrested, they have items that are concealed on them and they don’t tell us about, hoping they can get away with it or don’t get charged with it,” Hawkins said. “We ask them when they get arrested if they have anything concealed. Most of the time they say no.”
If officers have probable cause, they will search an inmate being booked. Those range from pat downs to strip searches, Hawkins said.
Deputies don’t perform body cavity searches and still won’t after the scanner arrives.
“Either they can remove it and turn it over, or we’ll take them to the (emergency room) and have a physician remove those items,” Hawkins said.
Every new inmate will go through the scanner, which Hawkins said may cut down on the need for secondary searches.
“They’re going to know the gig is up,” he said. “It’s time to fess up or give it up.”
Most would-be contraband is weapons and drugs. Sometimes inmates bring in hidden guns officers didn’t find on the suspect in the field.
Those are almost certainly caught in routine searches before inmates get to the general population, Hawkins said. Other easier to conceal items, like fentanyl and heroin, sometimes get through.
“We can’t catch it all,” he said. “There’s no way. But (the scanner) will surely help in closing the gap.”
A scanner success story
That’s certainly been the case in DeSoto County, which used American Rescue Plan Act funds for an X-ray capable body scanner for its jail during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the time overdoses in the jail were “rampant,” especially among female inmates hiding drugs inside body cavities, DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office Administrative Lt. James Pierce told The Dispatch.
“One (female inmate) had two overdoses in a day,” Pierce said. “We were constantly pulling stuff out of her.”
Since buying the scanner, he said, there have been no overdoses at the jail, and it has greatly mitigated contraband issues overall.
“We’ve had things slip through the cracks because of trial and error,” Pierce said. “It’s not infallible but it definitely helps. At the very least, it’s a visual deterrent. … A lot of times they’ll just give it up right there at the door.”
Investment vs. impact?
Hawkins admitted $125,000 could buy the sheriff’s department plenty of other equipment. But even with the price, buying the scanner makes sense.
“Say somebody was to sneak in some fentanyl and somebody overdoses and dies?” Hawkins asked. “What would that cost the county? This is a liability issue that could save the county in the long run by mitigating the problem before it starts. … It’s well worth the expense if that’s what it takes to protect and save lives.”
District 2 Supervisor Trip Hairston, who serves as board president, agrees. He is open to spending a little more on the equipment if necessary.
“This provides a bit more safety for the jailers and for the inmates,” he said. “It’s a good tool.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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