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Indiana police now using drug-detection device on drivers
December 20, 2020 GMT
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute is providing 52 police agencies across the state with a new roadside tool that can detect the presence of cocaine, opiates, cannabis and other drugs.
The device called the SoToxa Mobile Test System is a handheld analyzer that uses an oral fluid swab to detect the presence of drugs. Results are available roadside within five minutes.
Officers will begin using the devices in the field this month. Participating police departments include Evansville, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Lake County and Muncie.
The institute says a survey shows nearly half of fatally injured drivers with known results tested positive for drugs in 2016, up from 28% a decade ago.
The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute is providing 52 police agencies across the state with a new roadside tool that can detect the presence of cocaine, opiates, cannabis and other drugs. The device called the SoToxa Mobile Test System is a handheld analyzer that uses an oral fluid swab to detect the presence of drugs. Results are available roadside within five…
THE GOSHEN NEWS
Dec 18, 2020
ELKHART â The Elkhart County Traffic Safety Partnership announced recently it will be increasing patrols during the holiday season as part of the winter Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over national enforcement mobilization.
From now until Jan. 1, officers will be showing zero tolerance for impaired drivers, whether itâs alcohol or drugs, and will be on the lookout for unbuckled motorists, according to a news release from Capt. Michael Culp of the Elkhart County Sheriffâs Office. The overtime patrols being conducted during the holidays are funded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration through an Indiana Criminal Justice Institute grant.
Dec 18, 2020
In this illustration, a person portrays struggling with addiction, but education and rehabilitation can serve as means to overcome the draw. Jonah Hinebaugh | Pharos-Tribune
Editor’s note
: This is the third in a four-part series on the drug crisis in Logansport and Cass County. Coming Saturday: A 21-year-addict’s survival.
Arrests may be made.
Jail time may be served.
But until a person’s mindset is changed by overcoming the draws of drugs and addiction, then eradicating the problem is nearly impossible. And the only way to accomplish this feat is through education.
“Addiction is a mental health issue,” said Logansport Police Chief Travis Yike. “Education and mental health services are the key … [they’re] what lead to prevention.”