Body scanners are failing, allowing drugs and other contraband into Whatcom County Jail
Faulty body scanners at the Whatcom County Jail are letting drugs and other contraband into the lockup and must be replaced, the Sheriff’s Office said last week.
As part of a supplemental budget request for next year, Undersheriff Doug Chadwick told the County Council on Nov. 21 that body scanners are failing at both the downtown jail and at the minimum security work center.
“Within the last two weeks, we’ve had three overdoses related to fentanyl that’s been smuggled into the facility. This is becoming an increasing problem, and those scanners are one of the main tools that we have to detect contraband, both weapons and drugs being smuggled into the facility by persons coming in to the facility through the booking process,” Chadwick said.
Those scanners were bought in 2018 and 2019 to keep drugs, weapons, cigarettes and lighters out of the jail, according to previous Bellingham Herald reporting.
But the company that makes the scanners isn’t servicing or maintaining them, Chadwick said.
Cost of the two scanners, at $220,000 each, will come from the county’s Jail Fund, said Deputy Executive Tyler Schroeder.
So far in 2023 there have been 13 overdoses in Whatcom County jail facilities, Chief Corrections Deputy Caleb Erickson told The Bellingham Herald.
“We have found one knife, matches and needles using the scanner in 2023. The vast majority of scan anomalies are drugs and other contraband. We have not had any incidents as a result of weapons smuggled in for the 2023 year,” Erickson said in an email.
This story was originally published December 4, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
