Regional DWI task force urges county support for camera bracelets after local pilot claims high success rate

Ellen Pitt, speaking for the regional DWI task force during public comment at the June 16 meeting, urged Haywood County officials to fund “cam bracelets” for high‑risk offenders, saying local pilots tied to Waynesville produced very high abstinence rates.

"In 2022, we launched the most successful pretrial DWI intervention that's ever been done in history. Nobody's ever done it. It ran for a year. It was 99% successful," Pitt told commissioners. She said a Waynesville pilot that provided the devices to high‑risk offenders was "99.7 percent successful" and that the project was developed in Haywood County.

Pitt told commissioners a vendor representative had planned to attend the meeting but was delayed by traffic; she said the vendor would speak later and that she brought a community‑support paper for commissioners. The board took no formal action during public comment and staff said the vendor might meet with county personnel after the meeting to discuss funding and residency eligibility for the device program.