UK gov uses tags to detect criminal drinking
Around 7,300 criminals, either released from prison or serving a community sentence, will be forced to wear tags that can detect alcohol consumption during the Fifa World Cup tournament.
The tags can detect if the wearer has consumed alcohol by analysing their sweat and will alert their probation officer.
The UK government claims the tags are accurate enough to distinguish between those simply in a pub or area where alcohol is present and those actively drinking.
The move comes as police forces and local authorities prepare for increased demand during the World Cup, with the government linking alcohol consumption to incidents of violence, anti-social behaviour and disorder around major football fixtures.
The National Audit Office estimates alcohol-fuelled harm costs the UK economy £21 billion (US$27.7bn) a year.
Prisons, probation and reducing reoffending minister Lord Timpson said: “Major sporting events should be a time for the country to come together and enjoy the game, not for alcohol-fuelled violence and disorder to ruin the occasion.
“Having this tech fixed around the ankle is the wake-up call to offenders and leaves them with the sobering thought that one slip-up could send them to jail.”
Around 5,000 offenders were already fitted with a tag when the tournament started and a further 2,300 are expected to receive one this summer.
The government added that offenders who are banned from consuming alcohol by the courts have remained sober for 97% of the days they have been tagged since the technology was first rolled out in 2020.
Tens of thousands more criminals will be tagged over the next three years.
The government is also introducing a presumption that all prison leavers will be tagged on release as part of intensive supervision with the probation service.
Bookings to watch England’s first Fifa World Cup 2026 game in the UK on-trade last week (17 June) were up by 293%.
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