MONROE — Green County deputies will soon be able to roll into jail cells a robot that uses ultraviolet light to kill germs, including the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
The Green County Law Enforcement and Public Safety Committee unanimously approved purchase of the nearly $41,000 machine at its monthly meeting April 14.
It won’t cost taxpayers, Lt. Curtis Quinn told the committee. The sheriff’s office plans to use two sources to pay for the robot: $10,000 from a forfeiture in a narcotics investigation and $30,000 out of the jail’s commissary fund. The commissary fund has a current total of about $200,000 and draws from Huber work-release fees, electronic monitoring fees, the jail commissary and other money collected from inmates.
Tanna McKeon, director of Green County Emergency Management, noted this cost could likely be reimbursed through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The 1140 Sentry from Skytron, a Michigan-based producer of medical equipment, looks like a tall space heater or lamp on wheels. The long bulbs emit ultraviolet waves that scramble the DNA of viruses and other microorganisms, effectively killing them. The technology has been used for decades in hospitals and in water, food and air purification.
The Dane County Jail, where inmates and deputies have tested positive for COVID-19, started using a pair of UV-emitting disinfecting robots in late March.
So far, the Green County Jail has no confirmed cases of COVID-19.
“Our biggest worry with this virus is it getting into our building and into our jail. Our 911 center is part of our jail. We have outbreaks of illness every year, probably like every workplace has,” said Sheriff Jeff Skatrud.
The robot operates on a cloud-based system and can be programmed using a phone app, Quinn said. The robot works alone and will shut off if it senses movement. It can be wheeled into a cellblock or placed into a squad car to disinfect the space within seconds.
“It sends an email or text message when it’s done,” Quinn said. “There can’t be anybody in the room when you use it because this is pretty potent stuff.”
The robot is only for disinfecting air and surfaces. It cannot be used to sanitize people.
Confusion over the different types of UV light recently led the World Health Organization (WHO) to warn the public against the myth that sunlight kills coronaviruses: “You can catch COVID-19 no matter how sunny or hot the weather is.”
All UV light is damaging to humans, but not all UV rays will kill viruses. UVA and UVB light, which are both found in sunlight, cause skin irritation and sunburns. Only UVC, the type used by disinfecting robots, can reliably kill viruses. UVC light from the sun never reaches Earth because the ozone absorbs it.
UVC disinfection “certainly caught our attention now” due to the new coronavirus pandemic, Skatrud said, but he also sees it as a long-term investment in health and cleanliness.
What Quinn likes about the technology is the elimination of human error and spraying solvents in the air.
“I can sit here and wipe down a table, but I can miss spots,” he said. The Skytron robot won’t completely eliminate the need for wiping down surfaces with chemicals but it is “another weapon in the toolbox of law enforcement.”
He sees a bonus in zapping the smell of mold in the jail, “a building that’s pre-1980s for the most part.”
In other business at the April 14 meeting, Skatrud reported the average daily jail population was 28 in March, compared to 44 last year. That morning, he said, only 15 people were being held in the jail.
This sharp decline in the number of inmates is due to a number of factors, all related to trying to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19.
“The courts have delayed sentencing in pending criminal cases until summertime so we’re not getting new inmates there,” Skatrud said. In addition, judges are granting furloughs for a number of inmates, police are booking and releasing people “a lot more frequently” and the Probation and Parole Office has requested the release of a few inmates.
“We’re OK with them being released as long as that’s what the court orders,” Skatrud said. The priority is to minimize inmates coming and going, he added. The Huber work-release program continues to be suspended, and all inmates are subject to mandatory medical checks.
