Officials at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center hope to increase safety in the jail with a full-body scanner by the end of this year.
Lowndes County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously during its meeting Thursday to accept a bid of $185,580.11 from LINEV Systems, an engineering design company out of Texas, to obtain and install the equipment.
Sheriff Eddie Hawkins believes the scanner, which X-rays inmates upon booking, will make the jail safer by preventing contraband from being brought in.
“We’ve had stuff smuggled into the jail before that way, somebody hiding it in a body cavity,” Hawkins said following Thursday’s meeting. “We’re just trying to eliminate anybody bringing anything in, whether it be a controlled substance or a weapon.”
The scanner will show if the inmate has swallowed a foreign object or hid something in a body cavity. It can also detect anything abnormal, whether it’s contraband, piercings, implants or medical devices, like a pacemaker.
The county will pull from its strategic reserve funds to cover the cost of the scanner.
Supervisors originally approved spending up to $125,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds on the equipment during a board meeting in July of last year. During that meeting, Hawkins cautioned that amount may need to be revised.
Hawkins said that while the equipment will cost more than initially anticipated, it will be well worth it.
“It could potentially save the county a lot of money in liability issues,” Hawkins said. “If somebody did get contraband into the jail and somebody was hurt or injured from the contraband, this could potentially save the county a lot of money. So, it’s well worth the money that’s being spent on it.”
LINEV Systems must be added to the county’s approved vendor list before installation can be scheduled. Hawkins said he hopes that installation and training for the machinery will be completed by the end of this year.
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