Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Greene County Probation Department examined existing alternatives to incarceration options during a public workshop Feb. 6. Greene County Probation Director Alan Frisbee, Senior Probation Officer Lisa Grasse, as well as Rocky Mountain Offender Management Systems Development Manager Marcela Hoyos provided an overview of the workings of the the existing ATI system. Rocky Mountain Offender Management Systems provides electronic monitoring devices for the county. The presentation began with a review of the three devices the county uses to monitor offenders. The probation department receives most of its referrals from the Greene County District Attorney’s office and through the Drug Court. The lawmakers were shown two alcohol-monitoring devices: a SCRAM bracelet and a portable breathalyzer. SCRAM is the acronym for Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor. It operates 24/7 and takes a reading of the person's transdermal alcohol content every 28 minutes. Officials also showed a GPS monitoring device, which tracks an offender's location. Another way of monitoring offenders is through urine testing. The probation department conducted 6,800 drug tests in 2018. The county Probation Department employs nine probation officers, and it is estimated they manage a caseload of about 40 cases each. The department reported nearly $681,000 in savings from 2016 to 2018 by employing alternatives to incarceration, thereby keeping some offenders out of jail. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.