For most of his adult life, Todd has had an intimate relationship with Jack Daniels and beer. His dependency on alcohol cost him $75 most nights, and $250 on the nights he bought drinks for everyone at the bar. A few months ago, his relationship with booze almost cost him his life.
Now Todd, who asked that his real name not be used, is sober — and he credits a new technology he wears on his ankle that monitors his body for alcohol 24 hours a day.
"It's changed my life," said Todd, 45, who is divorced and has two children.
Todd is one of 12 people in Salt Lake County being monitored by a device called The Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor, nicknamed SCRAM, which has officials encouraged about the ability to hold DUI offenders accountable and direct them to the best treatment possible.
"There are some exciting advantages associated with this technology," said Larry Haefeli, substance abuse justice coordinator for the Salt Lake County Division of Substance Abuse.
The number of alcohol offenses in Utah is growing, he said, and this technology is a tool to assess whether offenders are actually abstaining from alcohol during their sentences or probation.
Todd faced a DUI charge after "drinking way too much one night," driving over a retaining wall and crashing his Nissan Pathfinder. By all accounts, he shouldn't be here today, he says.
A Holladay Justice Court Judge gave Todd a choice: wear the device, or be sentenced to the traditional penalties for first-time offenders that include fines, community service and even jail time. Todd chose the device. He pays $375 a month to wear the anklet and be monitored.
"Alcohol was obviously killing me. I knew I needed to make a change," said Todd, who works as a sales representative for a company that makes cabinets. "This has allowed me to keep my job, stay with my family, keep my life, and stay alive."
The device weighs about eight ounces and attaches snugly to an offender's ankle. It continuously measures the individual's alcohol intake by measuring emissions of air and moisture from the skin.
The wireless device can detect any measure of alcohol above .02 blood alcohol level, and "downloads" the information through a modem to company that monitors the info.
The monitoring agency tracks an offender's blood alcohol 24 hours a day, then forwards the data to officials such as a probation office. Reports will show the exact time of day users startdrinking, their blood alcohol level if they do drink, and when their body has expelled all alcohol.
So Big Brother might be watching?
Because offenders choose the monitoring device over other sentencing options, the device has not been seen as overly intrusive of individual rights, Haefeli said. "As long as it's directly related to the charge for which someone was convicted, it is not a problem."
Utah state law already allows offenders to be sentenced to electronic monitoring, but much controversy has surrounded the reliability and use of ignition interlocks, for example. In some cases, a judge can order a DUI offender to install an ignition interlock in their vehicle, then blow into a device before driving.
The SCRAM device is not a replacement for ignition interlock because it does not create a barrier for the individual to drink and drive. But it does provide a more thorough assessment of whether a person is drinking. The device is tamperproof too.
Todd's been wearing the anklet for 120 days, supervised by a a local company that monitors the data and reports back to the justice court in Holladay.
Study of the device comes at a time when Salt Lake County is carefully examining the best way to assess, treat and sentence drunken drivers. Nearly half of the state's DUI's occur in Salt Lake County, population 900,000. The county currently supervises about 1,200 DUIs. The court probation system supervises probation for another 1,000 and private probation services supervise another 1,000 offenders.
The new technology has attracted the attention of state officials working to solve Utah's DUI problem.
Mike Iiams, chairman and CEO of the SCRAM told a state DUI committee recently the intent of the device is to help individuals fix their drinking problem.
Other monitoring technologies allow offenders to "drink around them," he told the committee.
Susan Burke, head of the state's DUI committee, is researching any necessary legislative changes to allow SCRAM to be included as a sentencing option. She is also interviewing three judges who have ordered the device to see how it's working.
Burke is also comparing costs of placing misdemeanor DUI offenders on the SCRAM device versus incarcerating them.
Contributing: Ed Yeates, KSL-TV
E-mail: lucy@desnews.com