Device helps police detect drugs safely

    FAIRFIELD, Maine (WMTW) -- Officers at the Fairfield Police Department can now detect narcotics in a safer and more reliable way with the help of a small but effective device called a TruNarc.

It only takes a single scan and a few minutes for a TruNarc Handheld Narcotics Analyzer to detect a drug.

"There's much less chance of exposure, less chance of injury," said Public Information Officer Casey Dugas. "The results are much more reliable, and they're almost instant."

To use the TruNarc, an officer points the handheld's laser onto the bagged substance to scan what's inside the bag. After the scan, the device goes through its library of over 400 different substances to determine what it's detecting.

The device can also tell when substances have been mixed together. For example, it can determine whether or not a substance has been laced with fentanyl.

Beforehand, officers had to put an unknown substance in a different bag for testing and then break small glass vials within that new test kit.

"There are risks of exposure, transferring it from one container to another," Dugas said. "When you're breaking those glass vials, there's a very real possibility of puncturing the test kit because those are just plastic."

The department has only had one TruNarc on hand for about a month now. The Fairfield Police Department said all of the narcotics found in a recent West Paris drug bust were tested with the TruNarc.

Other departments in Maine are also using the device. However, it all comes at a cost. Dugas said the device costs anywhere between $35,000 to $45,000.