Lincoln County Sheriff working to purchase body scanners

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (KNOP) - The Lincoln County Sheriff appeared before the Lincoln County Commissioners to discuss the purchase of body scanners. The Lincoln County Detention Center conducts pat searches which fall short in detecting contraband when items are hidden internally.

“Drugs and other paraphernalia are impossible for us to retrieve when they are hidden in their body cavities,” said Sheriff Kramer. “The inmates don’t retrieve contraband until after they get into the general population and share it with other inmates.”

Sheriff Kramer explained their medical bills have increased due to drug overdoses. The purchase of the body scanners would help officers intercept drugs and other items entering the jail.

“The body scanners will keep my staff and the inmates safe,” said Sheriff Kramer. “We don’t want to see people overdose on drugs and we don’t want our staff injured from inmates bringing in weapons.”

The Lincoln County Sheriff is working to prevent future incidents from happening with the purchase of body scanners. The types of scanners the Lincoln County Sheriffs are looking to purchase are the same used in the Douglas County Detention Center.

The Lincoln County Commissioners approved Sheriff Kramer to start receiving bids for the body scanners.