Convicted felons in San Diego County are purposely violating parole so they can be sent to prison, smuggling illegal drugs and other illicit items with them to sell behind bars, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department says.
Sheriff’s Lt. Wayne Brooks told NBC 7 felons are purposely violating their terms of supervision so they can get “flashed” and sent to county jail for up to ten days.
Flash incarcerations were introduced in Oct. 2011 when the AB 109 prison realignment law took effect, shifting responsibility for some offenders from the state to the county. Since then, there has been an increase in the number of inmates under the influence or in possession of drugs and alcohol, says Brooks.
“Before, we just did strip searches,” said Brooks, “and there’s methods of hiding items in body cavities that we would never see.”
So the SDSO rolled out one $150,000 body scanner at each of its four booking centers. Since August, the x-ray systems have detected everything from handcuff keys to heroin.
Brooks showed NBC 7 one scan that revealed how a woman tried to smuggle in a knife in her bra and drugs inside a body cavity.
“Instead of going to state prisons and setting up their enterprises there, since they are staying with us long-term now, they are doing it here,” said Brooks.
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County statistics show the rise in drugs through the flash incarceration mules.
In 2011, there were 145 in-custody drug and alcohol crime reports. In 2012, that number jumped to 211 and continued to rise to 279 in 2013.
From January to October 2014, the jails have seen 335 offenses.
Brooks said though they are expensive, the body scanners have been effective in stopping the influx of drugs. The trafficking has slowed considerably since arrestees discovered what they are up against, so the department plans on adding at least one more scanner.
