The Real Cost of Prisons Weblog

February 20, 2005 edition of The Sun-Gazette

Alcohol-monitoring units worthy of new commitment

It¹s not surprising Lycoming County adult probation officials want to buy more of the alcohol-monitoring anklets they started using last May. They work.
Of the 63 criminals who have used the anklets, only three consumed alcohol and they were sent to jail for violating terms of their release.
The anklets will be especially valuable in conjunction with the DUI court set to begin March 1. That program is intended to keep drunken drivers out of prison by providing treatment and intense monitoring.
The anklets, called SCRAM for ³Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitoring,² measure alcohol intake, body temperature and any attempt to tamper with the device. Sensors in the anklets can detect alcohol processed through sweat and trigger a warning to probation officers that a defendant has strayed.
It¹s the kind of enforced discipline that helps those imprisoned by alcohol to start climbing out of the dependency without burdening the prison system. In an era when punishment is imperative for offenses such as drunken driving but the prison costs can be cost-prohibitive, devices such as these make practical as well as punitive sense.
The additional units will be bought in part with a $110,000 state grant and subjects monitored must pay $7 per day for the service. That¹s a bargain compared to building new prisons or expanding current facilities. And that¹s what would be required to execute punishment for serious alcohol-related crime were it not for such devices.
This is money wellspent on a priority worthy of the attention.

As appearing in Sunday - February 20, 2005 edition of The Sun-Gazette