Body scanners help combat opioid epidemic at Ohio jail

By Corrections1 Staff

DAYTON, Ohio  — Since installing contraband-detecting body scanners a year ago, one jail has seen significant progress in combating the opioid crisis in the community.

The Montgomery County Jail has prevented a majority of individuals from bringing in contraband, local news station ABC 22 reports.

“When the opioid epidemic hit Montgomery County, it hit our jail,” Sheriff Streck said. “It hit our jail first.”

The medical grade scanner x-rays inmates’ entire bodies, making it incredibly difficult to outsmart. The scanners can reveal a variety of paraphernalia, almost any piece of metal and drugs.

“Weapons, cell phones, drugs, cigarettes and other tobacco products are really the things we encounter most trying to smuggle in,” Montgomery County Jail Administrator Jamor Mat Haines told ABC 22. “They will go to lengths that may seem crazy to you.”

Officers seized 600 items at bookings because of the scanners in 2018.

The scanners cost around $127,000 to purchase.