Putting The Clamp On Boozers
The Secure, Continuous, Remote, Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM) device is undergoing a pilot test to see if it will live up to expectations. It is an ankle bracelet that can provide 24-hour monitoring for the presence of alcohol and can track a subject’s drinking pattern by measuring alcohol vapors leaving the body.
The device, made by Alcohol Monitoring Systems, sends the data to a secure Web site using wireless technology, and a probation officer can download the information.
“This is almost off the charts in terms of what’s out there,” says corrections program manager Joe Russo of the University of Denver’s National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center.
One expert predicts that the device could keep alcohol abusers sober, put problem drinkers in treatment and keep them off the street, and reduce corrections costs for local governments.
SCRAM has an anti-tampering alarm as well, and Hennepin County, Minn., officials say that the 25 units they have deployed so far are performing as advertised; they are used on people charged with felony DWI.
When the device detects alcohol consumption, officials get a court order to jail the offender until they can go before a judge to answer questions about their alleged infraction. SCRAM can test as often as every 30 minutes.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from theRocky Mountain News (10/27/03) P. 1B; Fillion, Roger.