The Halifax County Sheriff’s Office will be allowed to buy a new body scanner for the detention center through a non-competitive procurement process.
According to the resolution approved today by the Halifax County Board of Commissioners, state law allows the exemption of the competitive bidding process when the performance competition for a product is not available or when the desired product is available from only one source of supply.
The federal Code of Regulations also says that a county is not required to use competitive bidding for the acquisition of equipment with federal funds — as is the case with the body scanner — when the purchase of the equipment can only be fulfilled by a single source.
The county received $225,000 through a grant from the United States Department of Justice for the scanner and, according to a memo from County Attorney Glynn Rollins, the sheriff’s office has identified a particular scanner — the TeK84 Intercept — that “offers the unique features and performance qualities desired for optimal safety of detainees and staff in the detention center.”
https://rrspin.com/news/10167-hcso-can-get-body-scanner-without-competitive-bid-process.html#sigProIdadd5c51542
The resolution also notes the specific features the sheriff’s office wants for a whole body scanner:
Use of an X-ray beam that will image below a person’s feet to above their heads with the generator and detector array motioning vertically in tandem, scanning on a horizontal plane to assure proportional imaging with no magnification or distortion, and not requiring a person to move on a platform or conveyor belt during the imaging process
Due to limited space, a scanner with a small footprint design and an exclusion zone equal to the small footprint of the device
A scanner that has a short scan time and provides a complete and detailed scan report easily retrievable for evidence purposes
A scanner that is easily movable to various locations
The resolution says, “The Intercept Whole Body Contraband Detection Scanner … is the only body-scanning equipment that offers the above-referenced features and level of performance desired for the optimal safety of detainees and staff in the detention center.”
Detention center Administrator Matt Brown told the board it will probably be four to six months before the scanner is operational and staff will go through two-and-a-half days of in-person training.
In a January 15 letter to Brown, Tek84 Regional Southeast Sales Manager Margo McNeely said, “The Intercept scanner is uniquely designed, and the following features are exclusive to the product. There are no other whole body contraband detection systems in marketplace production that can meet these combined specifications.”
Vertical scanning
Small footprint with a 34” x 72” footprint design
Exclusion zone equal to the device footprint
Waterproof
Dual vertical wall technology
Complete scan report
Transportable
Four-second scan time
Integrated FDA thermal scanner with embedded record-keeping
