Md. Sheriff's Office Buys Body Scanner After Free NM Trip

FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- The vendor that sold a body scanner to the Frederick County Sheriff's Office did so after paying for a trip to New Mexico for two agency employees.

The Frederick News-Post reports that Texas-based OD Security sold the $119,000 body scanner to the sheriff's office last year in a no-bid process. The purchase came after a sheriff's spokesman says OD Security paid for a trip for two sheriff's employees to Santa Fe, New Mexico between Sept. 25 and 27.

After county officials approved the scanner's purchase, a rival company stepped forward to offer theirs for $9,000 cheaper.

Sheriff Chuck Jenkins says he was unaware of the rival company's existence and believed OD Security was alone in its field. He says he had no qualms agreeing to the New Mexico trip.