Marquette County Jail first in U.P. to implement full body X-ray security system
MARQUETTE — The Marquette County Jail is the Upper Peninsula’s first jail to have a full-body scanning security system. Use of the Soter RS X-ray body scanner, made by OD Security North America, began at the jail on Monday.
“We’re proud to announce that we’re starting the implementation of the Soter body scanner. This is only the second in Michigan,” Marquette County Sheriff Greg Zyburt said.
The X-ray scanner was needed, Zyburt said, as contraband — such as controlled substances — has been brought into the jail by inmates in recent months, which posed a health and safety issue for inmates and corrections staff.
“The main purpose for this device is safety,” he said. “It’s safety for the correctional officers and it’s safety for the inmates.”
The low-dose X-ray scanner, which is housed in the jail’s sally port, is used to scan each incoming inmate and generates an image for staff to review so they can ensure the person is not bringing hidden contraband into the jail with them.
“Before they even come into the facility, corrections officers will scan them and then look at the image. And it’s basically an X-ray of the body and (they) look for anything unusual,” Zyburt said.
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