NCJ Number
222273
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 35 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2008 Pages: 94,96,101
Date Published
March 2008
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the technology, uses, and potential effects of the SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor) bracelet, which performs hourly testing of the wearer's alcohol consumption and retains the data.
Abstract
The bracelet, while strapped to the wearer's ankle, takes an air sample once every hour to test for alcohol consumption. SCRAM can recognize the difference between perfumes or colognes and drinking. All data collected by the bracelet is transmitted daily through a modem placed in the wearer's home. The initial transmission goes to the manufacturer's (Alcohol Monitoring Systems) SCRAMNet data center in Colorado. The data are then relayed the next day to the designated authorities supervising the SCRAM wearer. Persons referred by a court to become SCRAM wearers typically include drunk-driving offenders, domestic-violence offenders with an alcohol problem as a contributing factor, and abusing parents whose alcohol problem is a significant factor in the abuse. In addition, SCRAM has been used in cases of under-age drinking and for offenders under the supervision of a drug court who may turn to alcohol while being tested for other drugs. Marion County (Indiana) has used SCRAM for more than 4 years. The executive director of Marion County Community Corrections reports that the bracelet has changed some offenders, as they have adjusted their behavior to the nonconsumption of alcohol. He reports that some wearers have made numerous attempts to defeat the bracelet's testing procedure by placing obstructions between the bracelet and the leg. The bracelet detects such efforts with an infrared sensor that shoots a beam to the leg and back again, which detects obstructions. SCRAM, which has been on the market since 2003, has been an issue in several evidentiary hearings, and its testing results have endured legal challenges in 10 States.