I found the following to be an interesting article especially since the GPS monitoring is being removed from the one area that was touting it so hard
will have to find that article for all of us. Just another tool that could be employed in our arsenial (bail bag) and another way for someone to scam the public thinking that they have the cure for drunks drinking while on bond
Article published May 27, 2007
Ankle device keeps DUI offenders out of jail
By LATISHA R. GRAY
latisha.gray@heraldtribune.com
SARASOTA COUNTY -- Ethanol-sniffing ankle bracelets are the latest gadget available to people charged with alcohol-related crimes who are looking to avoid jail time.
Most people sentenced to wear the bracelet have multiple DUI arrests or serious alcohol-related charges. Instead of going to jail, the defendants offer to wear the bracelet for a given time -- typically eight months to a year.
More than 100 defendants in Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties are now wearing the devices, which monitor alcohol consumption around the clock, said David Lovisa of House Arrest Services Inc. The company provides ankle bracelets in Southwest Florida and other areas of the state.
The bracelets test the wearer's sweat at least once an hour and collect information. The wearer must, at least once a day, connect to a modem that transmits the bracelet data to probation officers. If alcohol has been detected, probation officers call law enforcement, and the defendant is usually jailed the next day.
The bracelets have proven so effective that some defense attorneys are asking their clients to wear them even before they go to court to prove that they have stopped drinking.
Local defense attorney Derek Byrd recently recommended that one of his clients wear the bracelet months before going to court. The man was arrested after he threw a Molotov cocktail into a bar following a fight.
Byrd would not give the man's name, but said the judge was impressed and that the man has not had a drop of alcohol since he started wearing the bracelet.
Byrd acknowledged that the bracelets are expensive, but said wearing one "sure beats going to jail."
"I've got a lot of clients of mine given the option and they chose the bracelet over jail," he said.
Byrd is right about the expense.
The bracelets cost $360 a month on top of the estimated $8,000 in fees, fines and other costs associated with the average DUI arrest.
Some local defense attorneys say cost keeps the bracelet out of the price range of most working folks. They say it would be more fair if the courts or the government would subsidize the bracelet for poor defendants who cannot pay.
"I think it's a shame there isn't money for such a thing," said Tom Hudson, a local defense attorney. "The wealthy can get out of their jail sentence, but the little guy winds up losing his job and going to jail."
The bracelets and other devices, such as GPS monitoring, are resources the criminal justice system can use keep tabs on low-risk offenders. The defendants can continue to work and be with their families while probation officers watch their every move. The devices also save taxpayers money, because the defendant foots the bill.
"This isn't meant to be easy," said Ed Eagen, director of Pride Integrated Services Inc. "The first month, they see this as a toy, the second month is a pain and by the third month they are toeing the line."
Public Defender Elliot Metcalf said there are no cheap alternatives to the ankle bracelet, and that there should be some way to help poor defendants pay for it.
Keeping a defendant in jail costs taxpayers about $60 a day.
"With jails as full as they are and as costly as they are getting, this can be an option," Lovisa said.
"Cost is really our biggest obstacle, but with proper funding it can be incorporated into the court as probation is. You can lock someone down just as effectively in their home as you can in jail, and it saves taxpayers money."
