New Device Will Help Tulsa Deputies Test Drugs In The Field

The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office has a new device that allows deputies to test drugs and get results immediately.

The handheld device scans the drugs through the packaging, so deputies never have to touch the substance, which could save lives. The devices will be used out on the streets during traffic stops, during search warrants, and at the jail. It will give deputies instant results to know what type of drugs they are dealing with and more importantly if it is fentanyl. The sheriff's office says the TruNarc devices will save time, money, and hopefully lives.

"That's a safety factor. It is probably worth its weight in gold to where we don't have to open this packaging sometimes in the case of fentanyl. We have all learned and heard how dangerous fentanyl is,” said Sergeant Travis Jones with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff's office now has three of these devices, one for patrol, one for investigators to use during search warrants and one to be used in the jail.

“That's big for things like the mail coming in. People try to sneak drugs in through that or new people being booked into the jail may have some substance on them. They don't know what it is and it keeps someone from having to open it to keep from exposing possibly several people,” said Jones.

Deputies say the increase in fentanyl on the streets makes an already dangerous job even more dangerous. This device will significantly limit a deputy's exposure to the drug.

"We see videos, you can look it up on YouTube, officers falling out after being exposed and they are having to be Narcan’d to be brought back,” said Jones. "If this is saving one life, it pays for itself three times."