The Carbon County Sheriff’s office is saving the county money on its prisoner transports.

On Thursday, Sheriff Anthony Harvilla showed off the department’s new 10-prisoner transport van.The Ford transport cargo van, outfitted with a Havis Prisoner Compartment insert, cost just under $53,000 — $15,466.50 for the three-compartment insert and $36,628.45 for the van.Harvilla told the commissioners at their weekly meeting that the van was put in service this week and has already proved its worth.“Over the last three days, we were able to transport numbers of prisoners between the county facility and courthouse, and between the county correctional facility and the state correctional institution in Graterford,” he said. “In each case, we were able to transport between seven and nine prisoners at one time utilizing two deputies.“Without the prisoner transport van, those (transports) would have taken three vehicles and three trips.”The commissioners said that it will be a valuable tool for the department.“It will have a significant increase in the efficiency of the sheriff’s department,” Harvilla said.Sgt. Daniel Long used the new van for the inmate transport to Graterford.“It was much better,” Long said. “My partner yesterday felt it was much safer.”He and his partner transported nine inmates to the state prison, a trip that normally would take three sheriff vehicles, six deputies and a significant amount of gas to complete.Long said that the van has been a long time coming and will benefit the department.“It’s a huge accomplishment for our office,” he said, thanking the commissioners and Harvilla for making it possible, as well as the Berks County sheriff’s department, who helped provide guidance in the design.The van’s insert is unique, Harvilla said in that it is removable, making it a one-time purchase for the county.Once the van is no longer in service, the insert can be removed and installed in a new van.It also has three compartments, two entering from the back of the van and one from the side, which provide flexibility in the transports.Harvilla said that the compartmented insert allows for both men and women to be transported at the same time.The additional side compartment allows transports of co-defendants, who can’t talk to each other, or inmates who don’t get along and must be separated.The compartments are monitored in the cab through four video cameras that allow sheriff deputies to see the inmate holding area while they are driving. Video of the van:

https://www.facebook.com/tnlehighton/videos/1101707646532699/The decision to purchase the transport van for the sheriff’s department began earlier this year.In April, the county applied for a $15,000 Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool Loss Prevention Grant to help offset the cost of the prefabricated metal insert.