Despite success of alcohol bracelets, only Waynesville Police have gotten behind them

Jun. 26—A pilot program that outfitted DWI offenders with alcohol monitoring bracelets proved successful in breaking the cycle for those with drinking problems, but state funding for the pilot period has run out — leaving it up to local jurisdictions whether to continue it.

The Waynesville Police Department is one agency that has whole heartedly bought into the program and is committed to keeping it going.

"We felt very passionate about that here at the police department," Waynesville Assistant Police Chief Brandon Gilmore said. "This is a device that undoubtedly changes lives, saves lives and could not be a better resource for money for rehabilitation."

Waynesville will be dipping into its ABC funds derived from liquor sales in order to continue the continuous alcohol monitoring (CAM) bracelet program in Waynesville. Waynesville is the only law enforcement jurisdiction in Haywood County willing to get behind the bracelets since the pilot ended.

CAM bracelets are worn around an individual's ankle and can detect whether the person takes a drink. They can be worn by defendants in some DWI cases as a way to avoid jail while awaiting trial.

However, it costs $10-$14 a day to outfit someone with a CAM bracelet and monitor the readings.

Funding for CAM bracelets was provided under a pilot program for the seven western counties of WNC through the N.C. Governor's Highway Safety Program.

During that time, there was a 99% success rate in preventing individuals from re-offending — with only one person in Macon County violating the conditions of the release.

"I'm ecstatic. Anybody can read how successful it's been," said Doug Oliver, owner of Always Do Right, LLC, the company who supplies the bracelets. "I hope more counties and towns get involved."

Judges can order a defendant to be outfitted with the bracelet, however, billing the defendant isn't always an option — since the daily cost can rack up over a three month period.

"Someone's got to pay for that," Gilmore said. "Often times, the people who are committing these crimes can't afford, quite honestly, to pay for that kind of continued expense."

The devices aren't cheap either. For individuals, it costs between $10 and $14 a day depending on how the home station can be setup. If the person has a home phone line, it costs $10 per day. With home internet through a router, it is $12 per day. For those in more rural areas without home internet, it costs $14 per day to connect the home station to a cellular network.

Finding the money

The Waynesville Police Department decided to dip into their share of funds from liquor sales in town in order to cover the costs of the bracelets.

"None of this, if you use those funds, will come at any cost to the taxpayers," said Ellen Pitt, who leads the WNC Regional DWI Task Force. "The drinking people who purchase alcohol will be paying for this endeavor. When we have the chance to prevent instead of punish, I think we oughta take it."

Those given a court mandate to wear the CAM bracelet in Waynesville will wear it for 90 days — a length intentionally chosen to give individuals the best chance at recovery possible.

"If you do a 30 day program, you're really just in it to get it over with and move on. You're not really there to solve the issue of having a drinking problem," Oliver said. "That 90- to 120-day time frame really lets you know that person is committed. That's what we want to see. We want to see a large commitment from the person being put on it."

The program will allow individuals accused of driving while intoxicated to get out of jail and work towards recovery, while still being held accountable to that recovery.

For Gilmore, it was a no-brainer to use money already set aside for alcohol rehabilitation to fund this program.

"I knew there was funding there. Per statute, we have to put a certain percentage of that money back towards alcohol rehabilitation and training," Gilmore said. "It only made sense with the success of the CAM bracelets that we looked at that being an option to fund that program."

The program will save the county quite a bit of money. The difference between housing a defendant in the jail versus paying for a CAM bracelet is more than $2,300 a month.

Ironically, the county has not jumped on board the program for those arrested by the sheriff's office — even though funding a CAM bracket is far cheaper than room-and-board in jail.

"It sounds great," Waynesville Councilmember Chuck Dickson said. "I'm still shaking my head thinking why the county wouldn't want to save $2,300 a month per offender."

Gilmore said that he and Pitt presented the project to the county commissioners last year, but he does not believe it will be implemented at the county level by the sheriff's office.

When the Haywood County Sheriff's Office was asked why it wasn't putting in money for CAM bracelets, the answer was unclear.

"It's not something we instituted or are a part of," said Gina Zachary, spokesperson for the sheriff's office, though she added that the sheriff thought it was a great program.

So for now, only those arrested in the town limits of Waynesville and under Waynesville Police jurisdiction will be covered. Even when the pilot program was paying the way, Waynesville had more buy in than other agencies. Of the 53 CAM bracelets outfitted in the seven-county region, over half were within Waynesville.

How it works

The device takes various readings throughout the day — as many as 50 times per day. The bracelet uses the wearer's sweat to determine if they have been drinking. It is so sensitive that hand sanitizer can show up as an alcohol in someone's system.

That's where another reading helps clear things up — a body temperature reading. When someone consumes alcohol, their body temperature rises. The reading can help rule out false positives that may arise.

The third and final reading is from an infrared sensor that ensures the device is not being moved away from the skin to try to game the system. The infrared reading is very sensitive — ensuring no one tampers with the device.

"It's so sensitive," Oliver said. "If you're trying to adjust it for a shoe, it'll throw a tamper alarm. It could just be for seconds. I get a lot of tamper alerts on people who are sleeping."

The band also features fiber optic technology, so Oliver knows if someone has cut the band off.

The multiple levels of testing ensures that there is no way to deal with the bracelet besides not drinking.

"It's very, very hard to beat technology. You have to beat three things to beat that monitor and there's no way you're going to beat all three," Oliver said. "That's why the monitor is so successful."

Defendants in several different situations can be required to wear a CAM bracelet to be released from jail — those driving in a DWI crash that resulted in death or serious injury, someone with three or more DWIs in ten years, someone who fled or eluded during a DWI stop, someone with pending DWI charges or someone charged with DWI while a child was present or domestic violence offenders where alcohol is a contributing factor.

"I'm not one to curse alcohol and think it should be removed from society. We just need to have a little bit tighter reign on some of these people out there," Oliver said. "We're going to see a big improvement in the number of DUIs."