DENVER—Attendees at the upcoming Winter Training Institute for the American Probation and Parole Association will do more than just look at the industry’s newest offering in alcohol testing-they’ll have a chance to demo the product while they’re at the show. Denver-based Alcohol Monitoring Systems will be exhibiting SCRAM™ at the Resource Expo, which runs February 8 – 10, 2004, in Reno.
Also known as the Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor™ , SCRAM is a system that is worn as an ankle bracelet. SCRAM measures a subject’s alcohol consumption-as frequently as every 30 minutes-around the clock. “SCRAM is revolutionizing the way we supervise and treat our alcohol-related offenders,” says Joe Russo, program manager for the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center , a program affiliated with the National Institute of Justice. “It’s effective, and it’s affordable. The industry just hasn’t seen anything like this before.”
AMS first exhibited with the SCRAM System at the 27th Annual Training Institute in Denver in August of 2002. They began BETA testing of theSCRAM System in July of that year, testing SCRAM in the field with various state, federal, and local jurisdictions, as well as service providers across the country. AMS completed the BETA testing and officially launched the product in March of 2003, followed by a large exhibit-and demonstration sessions-at the APPA 28 th Annual Training Institute last August in Cleveland.
“Seeing is believing, and seeing the SCRAM System sample, transmit, and report the data never fails to get a crowd’s attention,” says Don White, vice president of Field Operations for AMS. At last August’s Resource Expo in Cleveland, AMS recruited volunteers and installed the SCRAM Bracelet on 15 attendees of the show, just prior to a cocktail reception in the Resource Expo. “When you’re wearing the bracelet, you don’t know when you’re scheduled for a test, but you are aware when the system is sampling,” says White. Once alcohol is detected, the bracelet automatically begins testing every 30 minutes until alcohol is no longer present.
Volunteers wore the bracelets overnight, sleeping, showering, eating, and even attending sessions with the bracelets on. “That’s a key benefit of this system,” says White. “Offenders can go about the business of rebuilding their lives, rather than spending their time waiting for a test or traveling to testing centers.” Volunteers returned to the booth the morning after the reception and viewed their test results on SCRAMNET, the Internet-based system that collects and stores the testing data.
Alcohol Monitoring Systems will again be demonstrating the product to volunteers at the Reno event. Attendees interested in participating in the program are encouraged to visit the booth early on February 8th.
The American Probation and Parole Association’s annual conferences draw thousands of professionals from fields such as adult and juvenile probation, parole, restitution management, residential programs, treatment and the judicial system. Representing over 35,000, APPA is an international nonprofit organization committed to realistic and effective probation, parole and community-based correctional programming.
Established in 1997, Alcohol Monitoring Systems (AMS) manufactures the world’s only non-invasive alcohol-detection system that automatically tests for alcohol every hour, 24 hours a day, regardless of the offender’s location. SCRAM™ – or Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor™ – is the only alcohol-testing technology to use transdermal analysis to determine an offender’s blood alcohol content. SCRAM fully automates the alcohol testing and reporting process, providing community corrections, law enforcement, and treatment organizations nationwide with the ability to classify DUI offenders and assess compliance with sentencing requirements and treatment guidelines. AMS is a privately held company headquartered in Highlands Ranch, Colorado.