Cambria County Prison will get X-ray scanner

EBENSBURG — Cambria County will spend more than $77,000 on an X-ray scanner for the county prison, in the wake of two incidents earlier this year in which two female inmates overdosed inside the prison.

The scanner, which the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection didn't allow inside prisons until recently, will help keep contraband including drugs and weapons out of the prison, said Cambria County Prison Warden Christian Smith.

"I don't think you'll find any jail that will say they can keep 100 percent of the contraband out of their facility," Smith said.

He said they do thorough searches, but the scanner will be another line of defense against contraband.

"Anytime an inmate leaves the institution, there's a possibility of something coming back in," Smith said.

The Cambria County Prison will be just the second prison in the state to have this kind of scanner, and the county got a discount on it by agreeing to let other prison administrations see how they're using the scanner in their facility.

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