Jail buying scanner chair to search inmates

Southeast Kansas Regional Correctional Center officials are preparing to implement a new device that will help make their employees' jobs safer and more efficient.

After meeting with SEKRCC Program Coordinator Jimmy Nichols at Friday's regular Bourbon County Commission meeting, commissioners approved the purchase of the Body Orifice Security Scanner (BOSS) II, a chair-like device that uses electromagnetic pulses to do a full, non-intrusive body and cavity search of inmates entering the jail.

The purpose for the device, which costs more than $8,000, is to detect any contraband that inmates try to sneak into the jail. The purchase also comes as a response to a new regulation handed down by the Kansas Counties Association Multi-Line Pool (KCAMP) that bans correction centers from performing strip searches on inmates without having probable cause or reasonable suspicion. Nichols said that by using this device, SEKRCC officials will be able to establish reasonable suspicion.

He added that purchasing the BOSS was vital to ensure the correctional officers' safety, as not being allowed to perform strip searches would have led to inmates smuggling weapons and drugs into the correctional center.

"We used to take (the inmates) in, they'd strip down, they'd shower, and we'd spray them with delouser," Nichols said. "We can't do that anymore."

According to its Web site, the Boss II is an efficient tool for finding contraband because its has five detection zones -- oral, abdomen, anal and vaginal, foot, and lower leg. The BOSS II features instantaneous detection of all conductive metals and provides more consistent detection than security walk-through or handheld metal detectors.

Also according its Web site, because the device is non-intrusive, it eliminates the liability and safety issues associated with manual searches. Nichols said those very issues have caused some counties to be sued for millions of dollars which ultimately led to KCAMP's decision to disallow automatic strip searches. Nichols said that if by using the BOSS, contraband is detected, SEKRCC employees will then be allowed to do a strip search to remove or possibly find even more contraband.

"The last thing you want is to have some guy carrying a knife on him for protection, it gets into the wrong guy's hands and then you have a jail break," Nichols said.

Nichols said that having the BOSS will help jail employees find even more contraband than strip searches would.

"You'll never find 100 percent of the contraband just doing a strip search," he said.

Another positive feature of the BOSS is that it's portable, which allows for an easy transfer to an inmate's cell or perhaps to a different location altogether. Nichols said that portability will may come in handy down the road as SEKRCC officials and county commissioners continue to work on plans to possibly build a new jail.

Nichols said the BOSS should arrive within a couple weeks and a training session for jail employees would take place before being fully implemented. He added that he appreciates the county commissioners' approval of the purchase.

"It's really wonderful that we have county commissioners who care about the safety of their employees," he said.