VANCOUVER, Wash. (KOIN) — Clark County jail is getting a technology upgrade to prevent inmates from tricking their way out of jail.
In May, an inmate escaped by assuming the identity of another inmate who was scheduled for release. Michael Dionte Johnson simply put on the other guy’s clothes, switched cells, signed the other man’s name and walked out the door.
With this new biometric system, inmates lodged at the Clark County jail will have their finger prints scanned. This will be the first local jail to use digital scans, it’s a technology usually reserved for state and federal prisons.
“[The system] allows corrections deputies to identify a person coming into the jail by a fingerprint matched with their physical description and photograph and upon release that fingerprint is compared to their captured one at the beginning to make sure that we’re releasing the correct person,” said Rich Bishop, chief corrections deputy for Clark County.
The finger biometric system cost $40,000 and was set to be rolled out well before Johnson’s escape.
