RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center recently unveiled a state-of-the-art device, which officials hope will enhance security and ensure staff safety.
Officials said the MailSecur system at the jail is the first of its kind in South Carolina and allows correctional officers to scan inmates’ incoming mail for contraband without opening an envelope or package.
Detention Center director Crayman Harvey said the device is crucial for safety and securing contraband before it enters the facility.
“Contraband is a major issue among all institutions or whatever -- it's not just going through the traditional way with staff," Harvey said. "It's now coming through mail and so we had to have it."
He said the machine can be used for more than just mail.
“It's for everything; it’s for any type of incoming mail," he said. "It's for — we can utilize it for books; we can utilize it for seeing any type of contents that's sent — any type of structure."
Gang Investigator Kevin McCollough explained how the machine works.
"When mails comes in, it is first weighed and calculated on a scale before it is placed under a screen, pressed, and either green or red will appear on the front screen, indicating if the mail is what they call 'dirty mail.,'" he said.
If it turns green, the mail is safe for delivery. If it turns red, it is given to the authorities for further investigation.
“We don’t throw it away; it's part of evidence, and so what we would do is we would actually look at that mail, we would either take it to the department of investigatory procedures where we give it to the sheriff's department," Harvey said. "Or, if it's just what we think is just not -- where it's contraband but it's not elicit contraband, what we'd do is we'd give it to — put it in detainee's regular property and then they can get it when they get released."
This new addition to Alvin S. Glenn also boosts security for the workers and inmates.
“We’ve been boostering out security practices here for the past two years, and this is just one device that we thought we needed due to the contraband effect that crosses all the barrels of institutional," Harvey said.
