Alcohol monitoring
The SCRAM (Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor) programme, delivered by Blackburn with Darwen Council, works with volunteers whose alcohol misuse was a key element in their offending.
Alcohol monitoring through an ankle device is combined with a range of interventions that include outreach and support, working to help ensure those on the programme do not reoffend.
This is often requested in instances where individuals may want to evidence their abstinence in relation to ongoing legal cases, children’s services proceedings or following release after a prison sentence for incidents where alcohol consumption was a factor.
Following an initial pilot project in Blackburn and Darwen, the scheme is set to be run across the wider Pennine area and has received £28,000 from the Commissioner’s reducing reoffending fund.
Clive Grunshaw, Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner said:
“The range of ideas and organisations that came forward during the application process for reducing reoffending funding was really encouraging and highlighted both the great work already being done across the county, but also the real commitment to tackling crime and reoffending, one of the key priorities in my Police and Crime Plan, going forward.
“It is really useful to hear first-hand how this project has already worked with offenders and is helping them re-integrate into our communities – it has also been exciting to hear how the programme will be able to support more people across a wider area, with support from my reducing reoffending fund.
“Policing alone cannot prevent people reoffending and supporting initiatives which help them make Lancashire a safer place can only be a good thing.”
Cllr Shaukat Hussain, Neighbourhoods and Prevention Services, said: “The Council is very much committed to using this type of technology to support people to make positive changes.
“The continuous monitoring provides local authorities, courts and child-protection agencies with the tools to know if people whose actions have been driven by their alcohol consumption are committed to changing their behaviours definitively. This is a really good tool that is very much helping those who volunteer to use the equipment to ensure they continue to make positive changes.”
