County jails are giving body scanners high marks for detecting contraband found on inmates.
In prisons across Ohio, there's been a 41 percent spike in contraband confiscated from inmates. The prohibited items include drugs, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, and cellphones.
Local jails are installing full body scanners, similar to those found at Cleveland Hopkins Airport.
"I think ours are even better than those found at the airport," said Geauga County Sheriff Scott Hildenbrand.
The inspection, however, is only as good as the inspector.
"My staff aren't radiologists so when items are swallowed they can get into different places in the body and they can be hard to detect," said Ken Mills, the man in charge of the Cuyahoga County jail.
Cases of inmates overdosing on heroin and fentanyl in local jails are well-documented. Sheriff Hildenbrand said they are disruptive and pose security issues and that's the main reason the county decided to purchase the high-tech screening device.
And they bought the $120,000 machine with profits from the inmate commissary. Other counties have spent more than $200,000 of taxpayer dollars on the equipment.
"I think it's very effective and I believe every jail across Ohio will have one soon," said Hildenbrand..
Contraband is an ongoing struggle both in county jails and in Ohio prisons where they've seen a 41 percent increase in contraband seized from inmates. Drugs and alcohol are the most common items that are confiscated. But cellphone confiscations had the most dramatic spike, jumping 122 percent from 2013 to 2015 when phone seizures went from 585 to 1,302.
Correction officers are concerned because cellphones are unrecorded and authorities don't know who has one. Inmates have been found contacting witnesses in their criminal cases.
But now, prison and jail administrators believe the body scanners give them a much more effective weapon in the ongoing battle against contraband.
""Love it. It's one of the best things we've got," Mills said.