BOISE, Idaho — The Ada County Sheriff's Office says a new piece of equipment will help them catch people trying to sneak drugs or other contraband into the jail.
The Ada County Jail recently acquired a SOTER RS body scanner, which functions similarly to the scanners at airport security. Jail officials say the 10-second scan will be used as inmates are booked into the jail, after their initial screening with deputies.
"Without getting too graphic, some people will go to pretty extreme efforts to conceal drugs or other contraband as they are booked in," the sheriff's office wrote in a release.
The scanner will pick up on anomalies, alerting deputies to the presence of narcotics or other contraband arrestees have hidden.
Everyone who is booked into the jail is subject to a pat-down search by deputies, but most inmates are not strip-searched, officials say.
The scanner, which cost $104,750, is designed to emit limited radiation - a fraction of that of an X-ray - and can save images to be used later in court.
