LCBS sets aside funds for sheriff to buy full-body scanner for jail
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office is taking a full-bodied approach to reducing contraband coming into the county jail.
The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors has set aside up to $125,000 to allow Sheriff Eddie Hawkins to buy a full-body scanner for the detention center.
The scanner is similar to those used by the TSA to screen passengers at airports.
And, anyone, detainee or employee entering a secure area of the jail will have to pass through it.
Several area jails have experienced issues with contraband items, from drugs to weapons, being brought in.
Hawkins wants to lock those items out for the safety of everyone who has to be inside.
“Well, you think about this, once contraband gets inside a facility, people can use an illegal substance, or it might even be a weapon that could be used for a potential escape. So, it’s very important that we keep these kinds of items out of a correctional facility like this,” said Hawkins.
Just last week, a supervisor at the Winston County Correctional Facility was charged with providing contraband to an inmate, and back in the Spring, a Lowndes County Correctional Officer was arrested on similar charges.
