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Body scanner introduced to counter drugs, weapons at Edmonton Remand Centre

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Edmonton Remand Centre inmates will go through an electronic body scanner to counter the smuggling of increasingly toxic drugs and other contraband into the lockup.

The scanner, similar to those used by airport security, takes a full body X-ray. The remand centre, which showed off the new equipment Wednesday, is the first correctional facility in Alberta to test the technology. 

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New inmates, transferred inmates and inmates suspected of having contraband will be put through the scanner, said Ken Johnston, security director of the remand centre, which houses about 1,500 people in custody awaiting trial.

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The Dutch technology can detect items hidden on the body, such as a packet of drugs hidden in hair; a weapon strapped to a leg and even foreign objects inside body cavities.

Inmates being scanned do not have to remove any clothing, and the machine is capable of detecting organic and non-organic contraband, be it weapons or narcotics.

“Has contraband increased greatly over the years?” Johnston said. “No. It’s the potency of what’s coming in that is raising the concerns.”

This year, the remand centre had one or two opioid overdoses, though it is difficult to determine if they were directly related to fentanyl, he said.

“The real concern right now is that fentanyl has increased a great deal both on the street and everywhere,” Johnston said. “Because it is so dangerous and so deadly, I think that increases the risk significantly.”     

Weapons and drugs are found routinely, he said. “It’s a daily occurrence. We have to be on top of that all the time.”

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The device is expected to be in use by Dec. 1. It will cost $580,000 a year to install and operate.

The government will decide whether to introduce the technology to other provincial correctional facilities by the end of 2018, Johnston said.

Ontario is putting the device in all its 29 jails, while British Columbia is using it in four jails.

“The scanner is expected to decrease in-custody drug overdoses and staff exposure to harmful substances,” Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley, who is also solicitor general, said at the event. 

The scanner will join existing security measures such as drug detection dogs, searches, intelligence gathering and regular scheduled rounds and checks, he said.

“Every inmate undergoes a detailed search on entering the facility,” he said. “Nevertheless, some of this contraband remains hard to detect and makes its way into the building.”

halam@postmedia.com

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