The Grayson County Detention Center’s (GCDC) full-body scanners are getting the job done, as the equipment has resulted in over 100 convictions.
The scanner is similar to body scanners used at airports, Woosley told Fiscal Court in pitching the idea for the scanner four years ago, and will make the jail safer for staff and inmates after a few “serious” contraband issues over the previous few years.
He said the scanner takes simultaneous x-rays, giving authorities a two-dimensional image, and are so sensitive that if an inmate has taken a pill the scanner detects its presence inside the person being scanned.
Woosley noted that prisoners have hidden drugs, cell phones and other contraband in body cavities, actions that the dual-view, full-body scanner detect. Additionally, prisoners, prior to the installation of the body scanners, were taken to Owensboro Health Twin Lakes Medical Center for x-rays, when needed. Something that is no longer necessary with the installation of a body scanner.
“Shortly after installation (of the body scanner), all staff were trained on the use of the machine, and it was put into service,” Woosley said.
On April 12, 2019, about a month after the body scanner was installed, “a lockup (incoming inmate) was found to have drugs in his possession after being scanned by the body scanner,” according to Woosley. “That inmate was the first caught with the aid of the body scanner. The inmate was subsequently charged with and convicted of promoting contraband.”
According to then-Chief Deputy Jailer Bo Thorpe, 23-year-old Katelyn R. Houchin, of Hudson, was charged with first-degree promoting contraband after Deputy Jailer Jennifer Johnson spotted, via the full-body scanner, “contraband on her person” while Houchin was being processed into the facility.
There were many other incidents where inmates were caught by the body scanner trying to bring contraband into the detention center. And because of that success, in March 2021, a dual, full-body scanner was purchased by the detention center for placement at the new GCDC Women’s Facility.
“Both machines together, since installation, have helped convict just over 100 inmates of promoting contraband. The two machines have been a great asset to GCDC in its fight to keep the facilities safe and drug free,” Woosley stated.
The money to pay for the scanners, which cost roughly $160,000 each, came from the jail’s commissary account, and not the jail’s general fund or taxpayer dollars.
(Headline photo: Grayson County Jailer Jason Woosley)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
