States Attorney
STATE’S ATTORNEY BIRKETT ANNOUNCES NEW INITIATIVE IN MONITORING ALCOHOL-RELATED OFFENDERS
WHEATON - DuPage County State’s Attorney Joseph E. Birkett announced today his office will be utilizing a new tool in the ever-increasing issue of alcohol abuse by persons in the criminal justice system.
In the next several weeks Birkett’s office will implement, on a trial basis, a non-invasive alcohol detection system that will provide 24-hour-a-day alcohol monitoring. The Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring (SCRAM) system measures alcohol consumption as frequently as every 30 minutes, 24 hours-a-day. The System itself consists of three integrated components; the SCRAM bracelet, the SCRAM modem and SCRAMNET.
The SCRAM bracelet, which is worn on the subject’s ankle, is worn 24-hours-a-day and weighs approximately eight ounces. The bracelet measures alcohol consumption by sampling ethanol vapor present in the subject’s perspiration emitted through the skin. The measurements are taken on a pre-determined schedule customized by the monitoring agency. Every reading is time and date stamped and stored in a memory chip in the bracelet. The bracelet is also equipped with tamper-detection electronics that, once activated, immediately notify the monitoring agency of attempted tampering with the bracelet. The second component of the System, the SCRAM modem is placed in the subject’s home or another approved telephone-enabled location. At a pre-scheduled time each day, the subject must be within 30 feet of the modem at which time the bracelet will transfer it’s readings to the modem.
The modem will then send all the information gathered from the bracelet to SCRAMNET through a standard telephone line. SCRAMNET is a web-based application that can be accessed any time from any Internet connection so that monitoring personnel can review results of the alcohol consumption samples taken from the bracelet.
“I am very excited about the prospect of using this new technology,” remarked Birkett. “Using SCRAM will enable us to not only ensure that alcohol-related offenders comply with the provisions imposed upon them by the Court, but it will also help those individuals remain sober and in doing so perhaps help them to lead productive, crime-free lives.”
The immediate goal will be to use SCRAM as a monitoring device for persons who have been arrested for alcohol-related offenses, have recognized their addiction to alcohol and are willing to completely abstain from alcohol as a condition of a lesser sentence. Birkett further commented that, “We are inviting judges and the court system to use SCRAM as a condition of bond, probation, supervision or a conditional discharge.”
Currently, courts in 38 states are using SCRAM to monitor their alcohol-related offenders.
“In 1999, I proposed the STOP (State’s Attorney Target Offender Program), an electronic monitoring program for high risk offenders on bail,” Birkett continued. “This program has been an effective tool in monitoring the whereabouts of these offenders. We are hoping that the SCRAM program emulates that success. I would like to commend the 18th Judicial Court, especially Chief Judge Ann Jorgensen for her leadership on this and many other issues.”
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