ABC 7 | June 11, 2008

CASTLE ROCK, Colo. -- When you step into the Douglas County Justice Center, in Castle Rock, prepare to be scanned.

Visitors and employees must now walk through a contraption many are used to seeing at airports, hold their hands up and wait to have a 3-D holographic image of their body snapped.

“It was a little strange ... it was kind of cool though ... felt like it was space age or something,” said Abbi Rosenblum.

It’s not quite space age but it is definitely cutting-edge technology. The Douglas County Sheriff’s office said a body scanner and metal detector are both incorporated in the machine making it one of the first in the nation.

The $250,000 machine was installed on Monday. The metal detectors before it were installed in 1998 and Douglas County said it was time to upgrade. So far, justice center officials said it’s been a smooth transition.

“We want individuals who either work here or have some sort of business in this facility to feel safe,” said Deputy Ron Hanavan, with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

Some worried the image taken was a nude one but Hanavan said not at all.

“It doesn’t take a picture of the individual -- it’s actually a 3-D holographic image, more of a silhouette of a person,” said Hanavan.

Hanavan also said the machine doesn’t penetrate the skin and sends out a radio frequency 10,000 times less than a cell phone.

7NEWS spoke with several first time users who said, all in all, it’s a cool machine.

The machine is funded through a Douglas County justice center fund which comes from county sales revenue.