Who’s The BOSS?
Cellphone use by prisoners is a serious problem for corrections officials. Sure, some inmates simply use the devices to stay in touch with loved ones, but others use the phones to continue a criminal enterprise, including calling for hits on rival gang members. One such case occurred in Baltimore, Maryland where a man on the street was murdered as a result of a hit called for (by cell phone) by a Black Guerrilla Family (BGF) leader who was incarcerated at a Hagerstown prison. Cellphones are also used for continuing other illegal activities on the “outside” and even within the prison, such as drug distribution and the intimidation and assaults on other inmates and prison staff.
To combat the recent explosion of cellphone use inside corrections facilities, officials have turned to a unique piece of furniture, the BOSS chair. BOSS (Body Orifice Security Scanner) is quite effective and quite simple to operate.
The inmate sits and the chair does the rest by using its built-in magnetic field sensors to detect both ferrous and non-ferrous metals, including extremely small bits of metal that would not be detected by ordinary metal detectors. The chair also detects metal objects inside the body (inmates have been known to swallow and insert objects into body cavities), such as razor blades, crack pipes, knives, guns, cell phones, hacksaw blades, lighters, etc.
Once an item has been detected BOSS emits an audible alarm, alerting prison officials. The inmate has the option of immediately giving up the item, if it’s in a place where he can easily do so, or being placed into monitored isolation until he does so naturally.
The Boss chair is designed in such a way that each section of the device examines a different part of the body.
1. Oral – the top arrow points to the section for oral exams (items hidden inside the mouth). An inmate stands behind the chair and rests his chin on the top platform for this search.
2. Abdomen- the second arrow points to the section for abdominal searches.
3. Anal/Vaginal – third arrow
4. Leg/shin – fourth arrow
5. Feet – bottom arrow
Boss has found a home in many places, not just prisons and jails, including, Customs and Border Patrol Facilities, Precious Metal Mines and Refineries, Coin Counting Facilities, Loss Prevention Applications, Jewelry and Watch Manufacturing, and Computer Component Manufacturing.
Portable BOSS devices are also useful on prison recreation yards and other areas where inspection may be required.
This portable unit is also has the capability of searching body cavities.
*Ranger Security images
