Indiana Police Now Using Drug-Detection Device On Drivers

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 percent a decade ago.