- October 31, 2024
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Story courtesy of the FCSO's Shannon Martin
In line with continuous efforts to improve security for both detention deputies and inmates, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office installed a state-of-the-art, full-body contraband detection system called the Intercept Scanner. The Flagler County Jail is the first detention facility in the state to have the new system.
The Intercept Scanner is in the jail’s booking area where inmates are first processed. The scanner is much less intrusive than the comparable strip search procedure used by most jails today. A strip search typically takes about 15 minutes, compared to a scan, which takes about 4 seconds.
The Intercept Scanner is unlike current scanners used by the federal government at airports. Airport scanning machines only detect contraband concealed under clothing, while the Intercept Scanner can identify anything concealed under clothing or inside a person’s body cavity.
Now when an inmate checked in, he or she will step into the Intercept Scanner. An image is created and processed onto a large computer screen, where it is analyzed by a trained deputy. Each scan involves a highly filtered imaging beam that is well below
federal guidelines. An inmate would have to be imaged 400 times on the Intercept Scanner to equal one digital chest x-ray.
A deputy was scanning an incoming female inmate on Oct. 4 when the deputy noticed an object on the scan near the inmate’s breast area. After the inmate denied having any contraband, the deputy moved the inmate to the strip search room to conduct a strip search
on the inmate. During the search, a metal object hit the floor. It was a grinder used to grind marijuana and there was still marijuana inside the grinder.
Over the weekend, deputies arrested a man for possession of a controlled substance during a traffic stop. Prior to entering the jail, the suspect notified deputies that he was concealing a baggie of heroin in his buttocks. It was removed before entering the facility but had it been present, it would have been visible on the scanner.
The Intercept Scanner cost $149,000 to purchase, install and train deputies.
“The importance of thorough searches of inmates cannot be stressed enough,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “In an environment like a jail, detention deputies rely on search procedures to ensure the safety of our inmates and staff."
