New X-ray machine in operation at Schuylkill County Courthouse
Sep. 5—POTTSVILLE — A new X-ray machine with enhanced detection capabilities was delivered and put into operation Tuesday at the public entrance to the Schuylkill County Courthouse.
The 6040DVS dual-view X-ray scanner from Autoclear Security Inspection Systems, Pine Brook, New Jersey, went into operation around 2:30 p.m. and replaces a unit that was about 10 years old and occasionally malfunctioned.
The dual-view feature is important, officials said.
"It's definitely going to make the job so much easier," Chief Deputy Sheriff Shawn Butler said about the addition of a top-down view along with the typical horizontal view.
Butler said the enhancement is "worth its weight in gold."
About 70 weapons — from handguns to brass knuckles, Mace, scissors and more — are confiscated each month at the courthouse.
Colors provide clues
The machine displays different colors depending on the items being scanned.
Organic materials are shown in orange; inorganic materials and metals are blue to black; and composite materials, which could include things like charging cords and electronic chip boards, are green.
"Explosives or narcotics would be the two biggest concerns for a courthouse," said Jep Poole, northeast regional sales manager with Autoclear, and they would appear orange.
A gun, meanwhile, that a deputy sheriff put in a container and sent through the machine showed up in a mix of black and blue.
Handcuffs also appear black and blue, as do coins. A pen produces a mixture of blue and green.
The prior X-ray unit was much less sophisticated, with scanning options limited to forward, reverse and emergency stop. The new machine, weighing 1,078 pounds, is similar in size and look to X-ray units at airports — about 6 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet high. It also has a hard drive that can store recorded images for future retrieval.
The Schuylkill commissioners approved the $52,231 purchase in July. Around half the funds will come from the general fund; the rest will be reimbursed from an annual grant for safety from the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.
There are about a dozen 6040DVS units now in use in Montgomery County, Poole noted.
No hiding
Deputies would use metal wands to check people entering the courthouse when the old machine, which will be destroyed, malfunctioned.
That will no longer be the case with the new X-ray unit now in operation.
Poole said it's a definite enhancement to security.
"The nicest thing about an X-ray machine is you can't hide anything," he said.
Contact the writer: amarchiano@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6023
