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| Ankle tags to monitor offenders' alcohol consumption | Ankle tags to monitor offenders' alcohol consumption |
| (about 11 hours later) | |
| Repeat offenders convicted of alcohol-related crimes will be forced to wear ankle tags that detect whether they keep drinking, under a pilot scheme. | |
| The mandatory tags record levels of alcohol in the sweat every 30 minutes. | |
| The 12-month trial in four London boroughs - Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark and Sutton - gives courts the ability to ban people from drinking alcohol. | The 12-month trial in four London boroughs - Croydon, Lambeth, Southwark and Sutton - gives courts the ability to ban people from drinking alcohol. |
| Up to 150 offenders are expected to be made to wear the tags for four months to make sure they comply. | |
| The aim of the pilot scheme is to reduce the costs and harm caused by excess drinking. | |
| Alcohol tagging has been trialled in previous schemes in the UK, but under the new programme it is the first time courts will be able to enforce it. | |
| A Home Office study has estimated that about one million violent crimes a year in England and Wales are linked to alcohol. | |
| For the next year, courts in the four boroughs will be able to impose "alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirements" on people who commit crimes while drunk. | For the next year, courts in the four boroughs will be able to impose "alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirements" on people who commit crimes while drunk. |
| Offenders who are subject to the orders will have to wear an anklet known as a transdermal tag. If the alcohol level in their sweat shows they have been drinking, they may face further penalties. | Offenders who are subject to the orders will have to wear an anklet known as a transdermal tag. If the alcohol level in their sweat shows they have been drinking, they may face further penalties. |
| The tags will not be used on people who are alcohol dependent or require specialist medical support. | |
| 'Booze culture' | |
| Up to 150 offenders are to be fitted with the tags, including motorists repeatedly convicted of drink-driving and people who cause trouble after drinking too much in pubs and clubs. | |
| The scheme is being introduced by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and it is similar to programmes already in force in the US. | |
| Mr Johnson said: "Alcohol-fuelled criminal behaviour is a real scourge on our high streets, deterring law-abiding citizens from enjoying our great city, especially at night, placing massive strain on frontline services, while costing businesses and the taxpayer billions of pounds. | |
| "I pledged to tackle this booze culture by making the case to government for new powers to allow mandatory alcohol testing as an additional enforcement option for the courts." | |
| Professor Keith Humphreys, a former senior policy adviser at the drug policy office in the White House, told the BBC that alcohol ankle-tagging worked. | |
| "The affect on crime has been dramatic. In South Dakota - where this was initially developed - there has been a 12% drop in repeat drink driving arrests and a 9% drop in domestic violence arrests." |