Sheriff's office deploys handheld drug analyzers to speed testing and reduce officer exposure

Clatsop County — The Clatsop County Sheriff's Office has acquired two handheld narcotics analyzers and is making them available to local agencies for immediate, on-scene drug testing, Christina Schultz, the county's deflection program coordinator, told the advisory council.

Schultz said the devices use a laser to scan drugs through their containers — plastic bags, bottles or liquids — and compare the results to a reference library. "It literally gives us an immediate readout of exactly what the drug is," she said, adding the device's library includes more than 800 substances and is updated regularly.

The county purchased two units with grant funding; one is stationed at the sheriff's office and one in Seaside. Schultz said all county agencies can access either device and that the rapid readout helps officers avoid opening packages and the associated risk of fentanyl exposure. "This is a lot safer method of testing drugs," she said, noting officer safety was a central motivation for the purchase.

Schultz and other speakers described operational and investigative advantages. The analyzers shorten the time to determine a substance's composition compared with sending samples to a forensic lab, which can take four to six months. The sheriff's office will share test results with public health agencies, Clatsop Behavioral Health and emergency departments to inform overdose surveillance and clinical response.

Schultz emphasized limits for criminal charging: if an on-site scan is inconclusive or does not identify a controlled substance, officers cannot use the device alone to establish a prosecutable offense. "If the officer... tests the drugs right there on the street... and it comes back inconclusive or it does not come back as a drug, then, yeah, they cannot... write a citation for that," she said.

Technical notes discussed in the meeting: Schultz said the machine's library is expanded periodically (the vendor issues updates) and that a newer model offers a larger and faster-access library. She reported the department has scanned more than 110 samples and frequently finds fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and varied cutting agents.

Local public-health staff and CBH representatives said rapid testing data helps inform overdose-prevention messaging and clinical stock decisions (for example, the appropriate use of naloxone). Chastened by the limits of surveillance alone, public-health staff and law-enforcement leaders said the device is another tool to reduce harms and speed data sharing rather than a standalone forensic replacement.

Schultz said other Oregon counties are seeking information about the tool; Polk County has also acquired a unit and others are exploring procurement.

Sources: Presentation to the Clatsop County Behavioral Health advisory meeting by Christina Schultz, deflection program coordinator, Clatsop County Sheriff's Office; follow-up remarks from county public-health and CBH staff.