Door County begins using breathalyzer kiosks for sobriety testing

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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Sheriff’s Office of Door County recently installed two automated breathalyzer kiosks at the Door County Justice Center in Sturgeon Bay and has begun using them to conduct daily alcohol screening of offenders participating in the Huber Work Release program.

Later this year, the sheriff’s office will also begin utilizing one of the kiosks for their pre-trial release program.

In Wisconsin, many offenders must refrain from using alcohol as a condition of their release, probation, or diversion program. To carry out this directive, sheriff’s deputies typically conduct random alcohol screening using handheld breathalyzer devices – a process that is both costly and time consuming.

The kiosks, manufactured by Minneapolis-based Precision Kiosk Technologies, print a receipt upon completion of a successful alcohol screening test. The kiosks are part of a secure, integrated system that autonomously handles alcohol screening from start to finish.

The kiosks consist of two components: an interactive alcohol-screening kiosk and a robust offender-management software program. The kiosks uses biometric fingerprint authentication to verify the identity of the individual, captures video as it administers the breathalyzer test, and automatically uploads the test results to the offender’s file. Operating without any direct supervision, the kiosk can test up to 40 individuals per hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The system’s cloud-based offender-management software coordinates regular and random test scheduling, and handles all test notifications and accounting.

“The AB Kiosk TM system will free up our deputies for other duties, and give us tremendous flexibility in screening offenders each week,” said Lt. Tammy Sternard. “By automating these programs, we will also enable our offender populations to safely and successfully complete the terms of their probation, parole, and work release programs.”