To better address the smuggling issue, Delta County applied for and received grant funding to purchase a body scanner. “Our goal is just to keep the drugs out of our facility.” WHEN X-RAY MET SALLY PORT “Our goal isn’t to find the drugs and have people prosecuted,” said Vallier. They also face more criminal charges, as detectives and prosecutors are brought in to start the criminal process on a new charge. It also means the offenders are isolated in the booking area again for a few days and then locked down with disciplinary measures. “It’s a lot of reports, a lot of wasted time,” said Vallier, “and then it keys everybody up in the block that hears the screaming and the yelling, so it is just a hassle for everybody.” The situation put everyone on edge and at risk of injury, and required a lot of administrative documentation. That fracas required physical intervention by the COs to separate and subdue individuals who were kicking and struggling with them and with each other, he added. When one cousin used the rest of the drugs without sharing, the two women started a screaming fight that soon had everyone else in the unit involved. One cousin smuggled in meth and shared it with the other – but not all of it. Vallier recounts one incident involving two cousins who were incarcerated together. This created hassles and headaches for COs, as well as a disorderly environment in the jail and added charges for inmates caught with contraband.
Meth posed a particular problem, and drug use inside sparked fights and other disruptions. “They were smuggling in drugs and chewing tobacco, and a normal strip search wasn’t detecting it when they’re willing to put it up into a body cavity.” “With more inmates came more problems, especially with our work release program,” said Vallier. COs quickly discovered that their established inmate screening process wasn’t catching all the contraband, especially as inmates seem increasingly willing to hide drugs inside their bodies.
MORE INMATES, MORE PROBLEMSĭelta County expanded its jail facility in 2019 from about 88 beds to 156. He says incorporating the body scanner into their screening process made a huge difference within weeks. Jeff Vallier, recently promoted to jail commander, was instrumental in procuring and deploying the machine. To thwart drug smuggling attempts, the Delta County Correctional Facility in Michigan added an X-ray body scanner to its intake process.
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