Clatsop County sheriff’s office deploys handheld TrueNarc analyzers to speed drug identification

Christina Schultz, deflection program coordinator with the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office, briefed the council on the county’s new handheld drug analyzer, called TrueNarc, purchased with a grant and deployed to two county locations.

Schultz said, “we purchased 2 of the thermo, handheld narcotics analyzer.” She described the device as a small, portable analyzer that uses a laser that can test substances through many containers without officers opening them, reducing the risk of fentanyl exposure.

The Sheriff’s Office has stationed one unit at the Clatsop County Sheriff’s Office and one in Seaside so any agency in the county can access a device. Schultz said the TrueNarc has a library that now includes more than 800 substances and cutting agents and that the office has scanned roughly 110 suspected substances so far. Results are instantaneous, she said, and are being shared with public health, CBH and emergency departments to inform overdose response.

Schultz said the new workflow helps prosecutors and responders: it provides quicker on-site identification than sending samples to a forensic lab, which can take four to six months. However, she also cautioned about legal limits: if a field test is negative or inconclusive, prosecutors may not be able to proceed on charges without confirmatory laboratory results.

The council asked about library updates and detection of new synthetic compounds. Schultz said the vendor issues library updates about twice a year and that newer machines have larger libraries and faster processing; the county’s units are updated regularly.

Members also discussed public-health uses. Monica (county management) and public-health representatives said on-site data can be used for surveillance and to inform overdose-prevention messaging. Schultz added that the county can take the analyzer to overdose scenes to test substances in the field and coordinate with the deputy medical examiner’s laboratory testing.

The office reported that other Oregon counties have shown interest in TrueNarc after Clatsop’s deployment; Schultz named Polk County and Washington County as examples that have recently inquired. She said the technology is costly but that the speed and safety benefits were viewed as worth the expense by local law enforcement.

Questions from the council clarified prosecutorial limits: an on-site TrueNarc read can inform officers and partners immediately, but a negative or inconclusive test may prevent charging until laboratory confirmation is available. The Sheriff’s Office said it will compile and share usage data with partner agencies for public-health surveillance.