Known as Continuous Alcohol Monitoring (CAM) Programs, the foundation is ahigh-tech anklet, worn 24/7, that actually tests an offender's sweat every 30minutes, around the clock, in order to measure for any alcohol consumption.The system, known as SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor), iscurrently monitoring 1,300 DUI offenders each day in the state of Texas. Morethan 6,000 offenders have been monitored since Dallas and Tarrant Countycourts first began to use the system in late 2003. Today, 71 Texas countieshave access to the technology, predominantly to monitor drunk drivers.Michigan, with the second largest daily number of SCRAM clients, currentlymonitors just under 900 offenders statewide each day.

The purpose of the system, according to corrections officials, is totarget the high-risk, repeat DUI offenders who are struggling with addiction."These individuals aren't driving drunk over and over because they want tobreak the law, they're driving drunk because they have a drinking problem, andwhen they drink, bad things happen," says Mike Iiams, chairman and CEO ofDenver-based Alcohol Monitoring Systems, which manufactures and markets SCRAMto courts in 46 states, including Texas. "Studies show that people driveintoxicated an average of 300 times before they actually get caught," saysIiams. "This isn't just a criminal issue, and it's not an automobile issue.This is an addiction issue."

According to retired Texas District Court Judge Vickers Cunningham, whofirst began to use SCRAM on high-risk offenders in his Dallas court in 2003,the system's 24/7 testing protocol not only helped him to better manageoffenders, it began to have a significant impact on the lives of offenders andtheir families. "It's easy to lock people up and throw away the key. But allyou have to do is look at the repeat offender statistics to know that justwasn't working," says Cunningham, who now works for Dallas-based RecoveryHealthcare, which manages the SCRAM program for courts in 50 Texas counties."What I quickly began to find with alcohol-addicted offenders is that, whenyou effectively remove alcohol from the equation 24/7, they begin to becomeproductive members of the community. They pay taxes, they work and theysupport their families. It changes lives."

Texas Programs Saving Tax Dollars

In 2007, citing exorbitant expenditures to build jails and prisons inTexas, with little corresponding improvement in recidivism rates orovercrowding, the Texas legislature approved a paradigm shift in themanagement of offenders, including the expansion of drug treatment anddiversion programs that include alternative monitoring technologies such asSCRAM. The goal is to decrease spending and prison population growth rates, aswell as recidivism, which accounts for nearly 40 percent of those convictedeach year for drunk driving, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Also consistent with the legislature's 2007 revamp of the state's parolepractices, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice Parole Division conducteda successful pilot of the SCRAM System in April of this year, and officialsare currently working to integrate the technology as a transitional tool foroffender re-entry.

The average cost of the SCRAM System is $12 a day, and all or asignificant portion of that cost is paid for by the offender. Compared to theaverage of $44 a day it costs to incarcerate an offender in Texas -- attaxpayer expense -- the cost savings of these programs to the state areextraordinary, notes Cunningham.

Early Results

Singled out in the most recent report, "One in 100: Behind Bars in America2008" from the PEW Center on the States, Texas is considered a forerunner inthe integration of new criminal justice practices. According to the report,one year after instituting systemic changes, the Texas Legislative BudgetBoard predicts no increase in the state's prison population for the next fiveyears. In addition, according to the National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration (NHTSA), Texas also saw a decrease in alcohol-related trafficfatalities of nearly 5 percent in 2007.

About Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc.

Established in 1997, Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc. manufacturesSCRAM(R), the world's only Continuous Alcohol Monitoring system, which usesnon-invasive transdermal analysis to monitor alcohol consumption. SCRAM fullyautomates the alcohol testing and reporting process, providing courts andcommunity corrections agencies with the ability to continuously monitoralcohol offenders, increase offender accountability and assess compliance withsentencing requirements and treatment guidelines. Available since 2003, SCRAMhas conducted 180 million alcohol tests on 79,000 offenders in 46 states.Alcohol Monitoring Systems employs 104 people across the U.S. and is aprivately-held company headquartered in Littleton, Colorado.

SOURCE Alcohol Monitoring Systems, Inc.