Cape Girardeau Police Department using new technology to fight substance abuse in jail
CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KBSI) – The Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance and the National Institute of Corrections released new guidelines for managing substance withdrawals in jails.
The Cape Girardeau Police Department is using new technology to help prevent inmate from sneaking items into jail, especially those that could cause harm to themselves and others.
“We’ve got an x-ray machine for whenever we arrest individuals,” said Bobby Newton, Police Information Officer with the Cape Girardeau Police Department. “We bring them in here. It’ll show us weapons or any type of illegal narcotic, or anything on their person.”
According to the National Institute of Corrections, the number of those in jail who died from drug or alcohol overdose increased by 400% from 2000 to 2019.
“It’s extremely important to have this so we can prevent weapons entering the jail facility along with narcotics and other substances,” said Newton.
There are also major health concerns that don’t always result in death but are just as serious from withdrawal, such as severe dehydration, and aspiration pneumonia caused by severe vomiting.
Lieutenant Rick Schmidt gives insight into how the system works for these individuals.
“They will take them straight to the E.R. before they bring them to us,” said Lt. Schmidt. “Once they get in the jail, in the jail setting, we have doctors, nurses on call.”
In 2020, a 24-year-old man was arrested and brought to the Cape Girardeau Police Department. While secured inside a holding room, the man retrieved a stolen handgun he had hidden on his body and held the weapon to his head, firing a single shot.
Jail staff and officers quickly rendered aid, but the man ultimately died from the self-inflicted gunshot wound.
With this newly implemented technology, the Cape Girardeau Police Department says they now have the ability to prevent situations like this from happening again in the future.
