DENVER—Marion County (IN) Community Corrections has selected Alcohol Monitoring Systems to provide continuous alcohol-monitoring technology to deal with the county’s growing universe of high-risk, repeat DUI offenders.
Under the terms of the agreement, Alcohol Monitoring Systems will supply Marion County Community Corrections with multiple SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor) systems. The SCRAM System is the only continuous alcohol-monitoring system available for program use by government agencies and alcohol-treatment providers. It takes unique advantage of the science of transdermal alcohol testing (measurement through the skin) and completely automates the process of collecting, storing, and transmitting offender alcohol-consumption and tamper-detection information to supervising personnel.
“In support of our agency’s mission statement, which is to maintain the public’s safety while effectively diverting non-dangerous offenders from incarceration through placement in community-based programs, we are always looking for innovative technology to strengthen our electronic-monitoring program, especially when it comes to dealing with multiple-DUI offenders,” said Brian Barton, Executive Director of Marion County Community Corrections. “After our initial evaluation of SCRAM, it became crystal clear that it needed to become an integral component of our program.”
Marion County Community Corrections will use SCRAM initially as a 24/7 alcohol-monitoring tool for DUI offenders that have been identified as a “higher risk” of repeating the DUI event. With the SCRAM System, judges and probation officers will know very quickly if these high-risk offenders are abstaining from the use of alcohol or continue to be a serious risk to the community. Agencies throughout the country are successfully using SCRAMas a comprehensive classification tool. SCRAM gives agencies the ability to focus their time, energy, and budget on hardcore offenders that need additional treatment, monitoring, or sanctions. In turn, low-risk offenders can move through the process at a quicker pace.
Judge William Nelson, who presides over the Marion Superior Court, Criminal Division 7, will use SCRAM extensively because of the growing number of first-time and repeat offenders he sees in his courtroom. “Drunk driving in Marion County is no longer just a problem; it’s reached epidemic status, especially cases involving repeat offenders and those with two or more cases pending at the same time. SCRAM will serve as a highly effective system to monitor these high-risk, repeat offenders 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Judge Nelson.
“Throughout the country, Marion County Community Corrections is considered a pioneer when it comes to program development and applying new technology to address today’s most pressing social challenges. With SCRAM, we are supplying Marion County Community Corrections with the latest powerful tool to decrease the number of multiple-DUI cases clogging today’s judicial system,” said Michael Iiams, chairman and CEO of Alcohol Monitoring Systems.
About Marion County Community Corrections
In support Indiana’s largest county (Marion County: population 800,000+), Marion County Community Corrections provides a continuum of sanctions that allow for alternatives to incarceration that provide individualized punishment, supervision, and treatment of offenders in a community-based setting. Community Corrections was established by a local ordinance in 1983 following the passage of the Community Corrections statute by the state legislature.
About Alcohol Monitoring Systems
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.