A new piece of equipment has been added at the White County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center that scans inmates for concealed items.
White County Sheriff Rick Kelley said the Tek84 Intercept body scanner is now being used. The scanner, developed in 2018, is the “only American-made body scanner that detects both metallic and nonmetallic threats, including weapons, drugs, cell phones and other contraband,” according to officials.
The body scanner will screen subjects from head to foot with X-ray technology and potentially reveal any items that could be concealed under clothing or within the body and will “significantly reduce” illegal narcotics, drug paraphernalia, weapons, and other contraband that have been brought into the jail.
Kelley said all new inmates who come in and inmates who go outside the jail facility and come back in will be scanned.
Each jailer goes through at least four hours of radiation training before using the machine. Amber Donaldson, Accreditation Manager, is one of those who is certified: “It only takes about four seconds for it to scan the entire body. We’re able to determine exactly how much we need to use for each scan, and I got my little cheat sheet. The lowest scan here is about the equivalent of eating three bananas. So it’s very low as far as any type of radiation,” said Donaldson.
The machine cost $164,700, a big investment, but Kelley said,“ No taxpayer funds were used.” According to Kelley, they used proceeds from their commissary and telephone vendor in the jail to purchase the scanner.
Sheriff Kelley said: “It’s a game changer for the sheriff’s office; it protects the integrity of the facility, protects the safety of the jailers in here, and it protects the inmates.”
Other counties
In an effort to combat the introduction of illegal drugs into the county jail system, the Stephens County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of a Tek84 Intercept body scanner in late November 2024.
That system was delivered to the Stephens County Jail in January before it was installed during the week of March 24–28.
Habersham County has had at body scanning system in use at the jail since 2022, according to sheriff’s office spokesperson Rob Moore.
This article comes to Now Habersham in partnership with WRWH
