Safety in jails: How a new body scanner in Wagoner County helps keep inmates and staff safe

New technology in the Wagoner County jail aims to prevent dangerous drugs and weapons from getting into the jail.

According to the Wagoner County Sheriff's office, this new technology is becoming a standard for county jails.

Deputies with the Wagoner County jail walked us through the new body scanning machine that sits inside the booking area. 

The inmate walks up into the scanning platform and gets a scan in just seconds. 

Jailers then analyze the images to look for abnormalities that could be drugs or weapons. 

"So I'm lighting and darkening to see if I can see the image that was down in here. I have a couple other tools in here. I can sharpen it, and, oh, look, something just popped up right there. " said David Soma, a jailer. 

Jailers walked News On 6 through the process of checking these scans. 

"The foremost responsibility of my job is ensure the safety, security the offenders and staff within the jail. So contraband, weapons, drugs, coming into the facility presents an issue with, you know, the safety of those offenders down there. " said Major Ryan Russell, Jail administrator. 

Two inmates overdosed on fentanyl in the Wagoner County jail in November. During the investigation deputies found that the drugs had been smuggled into the facility undetected. 

"If we had the body scanner at that time, it was possible to prevent that from happening, because this person brought that in through a body cavity. And you’re not going to find that in a normal pat search and you’re not going to find that in a normal strip search because that’s hands off. " said Major Russell. 

Once contraband is suspected during a scan, inmates are kept isolated until jailers determine what the item being detected is and if the inmate needs to be seen by a doctor to remove it. 

"Preventing one death within the jail or one overdose in the jail is well worth you know the investment to do that," said Major Russell. 

The jail has only had the scanner for a few weeks but jailers have already intercepted a few things they would not have found without the new machine. 

Other counties that also use this technology are Roger's County and Okmulgee County.