Handheld drug analyzer "TruNarc" claims to give police accurate drug test results in 60 seconds
Tests for potentially lethal drugs such as molly using a device developed by three Bay State companies could one day be admitted in court instantly as evidence, instead of waiting months for state lab results, proponents and police say.
“That’s the hope, that it will be accepted in court just like a Breathalyzer,” said Alex Tee, principal mechanical engineer at Altitude, the Somerville company that helped in the design and engineering of the Thermo Scientific TruNarc.
The handheld device would take the possibility of human error — either by police or by a lab technician, as in the case of the now-shuttered state Department of Public Health lab — out of the equation, according to proponents.
Police using TruNarc never have to actually touch the suspected narcotic they are testing; they only have to hold the bag or vial containing it up to the nose of the device, press a button and wait 30 to 60 seconds to find out exactly what it is via Raman spectroscopy, a technology already used in many drug labs.
“It’s kind of a game-changer,” said Quincy Police Chief Paul Keenan, whose department used seized drug money to buy three TruNarcs at a cost of nearly $20,000 each. “It takes the lab right into the street and into the hands of police officers.”
In time, if judges rule that TruNarc results are admissible in court, Keenan said, it’s likely to lead to more guilty pleas and fewer trials, saving taxpayers money, much the way Breathalyzers have done in drunken-driving cases.
Cheryl Fiandaca, a spokeswoman for Boston police, which also uses TruNarc, said, “Anything that would help speed up the process would be helpful.”
But she called using the device alone an “unrealistic approach” because narcotics “have to be weighed, and only a crime lab can certify them and testify in court.”
http://www.ahurascientific.com/trunarc-highlights.php
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