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State Grant to help Santa Barbara monitor repeat DUI Offenders

A $126,297 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) has allowed the Santa Barbara County Probation department to monitor repeat DUI offenders.  According to the Interim Chief the goal is to help repeat offenders maintain their sobriety through increased contacts.  Increased drug and alcohol monitoring will be conducted on a regular basis in the hopes of reducing DUI recidivism.  These high-risk drunk driving defendants are the most likely to be involved in fatal crashes.  In Santa Barbara County alone, 12 people were killed in alcohol and drug related accidents and 343 were injured in 2014.  It is the hope that increased monitoring will reduce the number of those on the road and ensure compliance throughout their probation.

Many jurisdictions have found that increased alcohol monitoring has helped reduced overall drunk driving rates, particularly repeat DUI offenders.  Alcohol monitoring devices such as the SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring bracelet helps to ensure that offenders remain sober throughout their compliance period.  Unfortunately, many people suffer from an underlying drug or alcohol addiction.  Increased monitoring helps to hold those with addiction problems accountable and increases the chances for a change of lifestyle.  Alcohol monitoring through devices like the SCRAM bracelet and random alcohol and drug testing has been proven to keep drunk drivers off the road and helped to reduce overcrowding in jails.