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Board approves purchase of three body scanners for juvenile justice campus using state funds
Summary
Fresno County approved buying three body scanners for the juvenile justice campus to counter rising contraband, a purchase the chief probation officer said is covered by state funding and will cost about $470,000 plus a three-year warranty.
Fresno County supervisors approved the purchase of three body scanners for the county juvenile justice campus during the May 20 meeting, after the chief probation officer described a rise in contraband entering the facility.
Lede details and purpose: Kirk Hanes, chief probation officer, told the board the scanners would be used only on youth booked into custody or returning to the facility, not on the general public. He said the county could cover the equipment cost with available state funding and requested authorization to move forward.
Cost and scope: The procurement total was described in the meeting as roughly $470,000 for equipment, with an additional three‑year warranty that brings the total to about $550,000. The request covered purchase and a three-year warranty; the scanners are intended to reduce the need for more-invasive searches and to address a documented increase in contraband incidents.
Union support and safety rationale: John Jasper, vice president of SEIU unit 36 and a booking operations supervisor at the juvenile justice campus, spoke in support of the purchase, calling scanners a “less invasive procedure” that helps protect staff and youth and complements existing pat-down searches.
Board action: After public and board discussion the supervisors voted to approve the agreement and authorized the chairman to execute it. The item was presented as being funded from state sources; the meeting transcript did not specify the exact state program or grant line used to pay for the equipment.
Implementation note: County staff said the scanners would be deployed at intake and when youths return from programming or furloughs. Additional operational details, training plans and data collection protocols were not included in the public presentation and may follow from the probation department.
