Local law enforcement agencies to implement new technology
Kristen Jones
Farmer Staff Writer
The McKenzie County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) has recently approved the purchase and implementation of some new technology for the McKenzie County Correctional Facility and the McKenzie County Sheriff’s Office.
Reassurance Solution
One of the systems approved for the McKenzie County Correctional Facility is a pair of devices that will be mounted inside of cells in the facility. These devices, one in each cell in the corner, will monitor the cell’s occupant’s heart rate, movement, respiration and presence in real time.
Rob Werlinger, administrator at the McKenzie County Correctional Facility, explained, “We get a number of individuals in there that, when they go in, they lay down, [and while] we have to do a 15 minute check, and even though we got a medical clearance prior, [they are still at risk of having a medical emergency.] There have been a number of occasions across the country, and I have been the administrator at two of them, [where inmates] have expired while they were in the cell. You can do the 15 minute checks but, in one case that was utilizing this system, the individual went in and did the 15 minute check, came out, and four minutes later his alarm went off. What it indicated is that the individual’s heart rate went down. [The facility personnel] went in right away and it was discovered that the individual was having a cardiac arrest, and we were able to save him.”
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