The Onondaga Cou
nty Probation department has been requiring repeat DWI offenders to wear SCRAM alcohol monitoring bracelets for the past year now and according to probation Commissioner Andy Sicherman the program is slowly increasing the requirements. In Onondaga County a participant is not required to pay for the device, which generally costs between $8 and $15 per day, but they do cover maintenance and damage to the device. The SCRAM bracelet is worn, on average from 3 to 6 months. Even with the per diem expense per individual it is still significantly less than it would cost to incarcerate them for the same amount of time.
SCRAM bracelets monitor alcohol consumption 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They measure blood alcohol level through sweat excretions on the skin of the ankle. Depending on the seriousness of the offense, participants can also be tracked via GPS in the same device. It truly requires complete sobriety and allows for those who violate court orders to be dealt with swiftly. Courts, probation departments and other jurisdictions throughout the nation to combat the drunk driving epidemic are utilizing SCRAM bracelets.