Are Alcohol Offenders Overcrowding Your Jails and Prisons?
Prison Stats For
Alabama
No. of Prisoners*
29,412
Total Cost Per Day†
$1,915,898
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In This Section
Additional Resources
About SCRAM CAM
Our flagship technology, the SCRAM CAM system is the world’s most widely used and trusted 24/7 transdermal alcohol testing system, for use with high-risk, hardcore DUI alcohol offenders. It combines 24/7 alcohol testing with optional house arrest monitoring in a single device.
The three components to the SCRAM CAM system are:
What Is It?
The patented SCRAM CAM ankle bracelet – the heart of the SCRAM CAM system – is attached to the offender with a durable and tamper-proof strap. It is worn 24/7 by the offender for the duration of his or her court-ordered abstinence period, typically 90-120 days.
Every half hour, the bracelet captures transdermal alcohol readings by sampling the insensible perspiration collected from the air above the skin. The bracelet stores the data and, at pre-determined intervals, transmits it via radio-frequency (RF) signal to the base station.
Attributes
- 24/7 transdermal alcohol testing plus House Arrest/RF in one device
- Automatically samples for alcohol and conducts anti-tamper tests every 30 minutes
- Lightweight, water-resistant, 8-ounce bracelet
- 48+ tests/day
- Incorporates multiple, best-in-industry, anti-tamper detection sensors
- Date- and time-stamps readings for easy reporting and analysis
- Collects, stores, and transmits all data via the SCRAM CAM Base Station
What Is It?
The SCRAM CAM base station is the mechanism by which data is transmitted to AMS for analysis and reporting.
During installation the client will also receive a SCRAM CAM base station, which plugs into an analog telephone line – usually in the offender’s home or place of work. At a pre-scheduled time(s) each day, the SCRAM CAM bracelet “communicates” with the base station, which then retrieves all available data from the bracelet and sends it to SCRAMNET.
Attributes
- Can be placed at home or at work
- Multiple ways to connect
- Automatically syncs with the bracelet at a prescheduled time for easy downloads
- Uploads all data to SCRAMnet for detailed review, analysis, and reporting
- Delivers operational messages directly to the client via the LCD screen
- Includes a wireless option that lets clients upload data from the bracelet to SCRAMnet without the need for a home phone line, Internet access, or a cell phone
- Downloads software updates from SCRAMnet to the CAM Bracelet
What Is It?
Where the SCRAM CAM bracelet is the heart of the system, SCRAMNET is the brains. It is the information hub that not only houses all offender data, but lets you flexibly manage it in the way that is the most effective for your offender management program.
When data is received from the SCRAM CAM base station, it is stored in SCRAMNET, the web-based application managed by AMS where offender data is collected, analyzed, and maintained in a secure, central location.
SCRAMNET provides a wide range of reports and graphs at your fingertips – from a snapshot of a single event to a comprehensive view of an offender’s behavior over time. SCRAMNET lets you customize and easily tailor the reporting that best suits your needs and individual cases, and helps reduce your workload through exception-based reporting.
Attributes
- The foundation of the SCRAM Systems Compliance Platform™ for every SCRAM Systems product
- A web-based platform where all data is securely stored, analyzed, reported, and maintained
- Allows you to easily customize testing, synchronization, and reporting schedules for each client
- Identifies any alert conditions that may exist based on defined criteria, such as:
- Alcohol consumption
- Topical or environmental interferrents
- Tampers or removals
- Missed communications
- Communicates and manages these alerts according to:
- Agency- and offender-specific parameters
- Preferred method of contacts
- Appropriate contact person(s)
- Can be accessed around the clock, from any location, using standard web browsers
- Allows easy management of equipment inventories online
House Arrest
The house arrest functionality that is built into the SCRAM CAM device is one of the most technically advanced on the market today. Features and benefits include:
Reduces agency workload by streamlining enrollment and scheduling
- Requires no dual data entry and set-ups
- Database automatically consolidates clients
- Lets you flexibly enroll clients and assign equipment for:
- CAM only
- CAM + house arrest
- Defaults agency settings to the client level
- Automatically copies daily schedule information to reduce workload
- Repopulates with the default schedule until you make changes
- Lets you view past schedules to review or modify
Confirms the offender’s curfew compliance with expanded daily reporting features
- Continually checks for offender’s presence in or absence from the home
- Delivers Daily Summary Reports to your e-mail
- Provides you with multiple Immediate Notification methods and features
- Fax, page, phone, and text messages
- Delayed and incremental notifications
- Agent-level notification methods
- Includes curfew events in Non-Compliance Reports
- Provides enhanced delivery options for Daily Summary reports
Provides multiple alert-notification methods
- Enables expanded Immediate Notification options
- Text and fax
Strengthens supervision while reducing labor
- Lets you send messages to the base station to communicate directly with client
- Enables customizable dashboard views
- Alert-centric or client-centric
How SCRAM CAM Works
For more information about how SCRAM CAM works, play the video or download the SCRAM CAM Product Brochure.
Transdermal Testing
When an offender is convicted of DUI, domestic violence, or another alcohol-related offense, a typical condition of sentencing or probation is that the individual must stop drinking. To enforce this, courts traditionally looked to random testing methods (blood, breath, or urine) that measure sobriety at a specific “point in time.”
However, one of the more effective advances in alcohol testing is continuous transdermal alcohol monitoring, meaning alcohol content is measured “through the skin.” Transdermal testing measures the concentration of alcohol present in the insensible perspiration that is constantly produced and given off by the skin. If an offender has been drinking, it shows up in the level of ethanol vapor present in this insensible perspiration.
Compare the advantages of transdermal over random testing »
Continuous transdermal alcohol monitoring – the foundation of SCRAM CAM – has been confirmed by the scientific community and is based on more than 70 years of research and 22 peer-reviewed studies. SCRAM CAM is an accepted and integral part of offender alcohol monitoring programs within courts, probation, treatment, and correctional agencies.
The science of transdermal monitoring has also been accepted in evidentiary hearings, and has been admissible in many court cases across the country.
Comparison of Transdermal Testing (SCRAM CAM) vs.
Random Testing (Blood, Breath, or Urine Tests)
| Transdermal Testing | Random Testing | |
| Monitoring Timeframe | Continuous (24/7) | Specific point in time |
| Cost per Test | Low | High |
| Administration Costs (Labor, Time) |
Low | High |
| Requires Medical Intervention | No | Yes |
| Impact on Staff Workload | Low | High |
| Behavioral Change | Ability to effect long-term change | Temporary suppressant |
| Disruptive to Offender | Minimal | High |