St. Joseph County replaces strip searches with whole body scanner

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind.—The St. Joseph County Jail announced the unveiling of a new whole body contraband detection system on Tuesday.

The technology, called Intercept Scanner, will replace the typical strip search method, which usually takes 15 minutes. Intercept Scanner will only take about four seconds.

St. Joseph County Jail is the first jail in Indiana to use the most recent generations of the new system, which was installed on January 28.

The St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Office says the scanner will allow deputies to safely and easily find weapons like guns and knives, as well as cell phones and illegal and prescription drugs that inmates may have with them.

All inmates and detainees will go through the full body scanner.

According to the Sheriff’s Office, each scan involves a highly filtered imaging beam well below federal guidelines and an inmate would have to be scanned 400 times to equal one digital chest x-ray.