DO-IT-YOURSELF DRUG ANALYSIS

It might look like cocaine or smell like marijuana, but appearance
and odor aren't enough.

Every time a law enforcement officer makes a drug bust, the evidence
must be sent to the state lab for testing to confirm that what
officers are alleging the drugs to be is true.

Confirmation from a certified chemist is necessary to make drug
charges stick in court. But with cases at the state lab in Raleigh
constantly backlogged, it could be six to eight months before people
charged with drug possession even see a courtroom.

That's about to change.

The Jacksonville Police Department and the Onslow County Sheriff's
Department decided to invest in NarTest, an instrument that analyzes
drug evidence in minutes.

"We will have narcotics' results quicker and can adjudicate cases in
court quicker. We're also hoping it will cut down on overtime for our
officers," said Jacksonville police Capt. Gary Dixon, referring to
officers who show up for court only to learn the case is continued
because drug test results aren't back.

It's also expected to alleviate some overcrowding in the Onslow County jail.

"I believe it's going to relieve some of the long stays that people
who have been charged with drug crimes have in the jail," Sheriff Ed
Brown said. "It will allow us to do the testing to get the case ready
for court."

Two officers from Jacksonville Police Department and two officers
from the Sheriff's Department attended training in October. Now, each
department must do 25 tests on drugs that have already been tested by
the state lab. The officers' test results along with the state's test
results will be sent to NarTest for examination. NarTest's chemist
will test them a third time.

"It's to make sure all our test results are the same," Dixon said.
"It's part of the process of getting certified to be a chemical analyst."

Once certified, both departments can begin testing drugs suspected of
being marijuana, cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine. The machine
cannot test any drugs in liquid form.

The NarTest system will cost about $30,000, which the police and
sheriff's departments will split. The Police Department will pay for
its half with seized drug money, Dixon said. The Sheriff's
Department's share will come out of the county's general fund, Brown said.

The machine also has about an $8,000 annual maintenance-and-upgrade
fee, which law enforcement hopes to offset with lab costs.

It costs $300 per test when the state lab performs them, which is
usually charged to the person convicted of the drug crime.

"The way the court works is that when a person is found guilty of a
narcotics violation, the judge can order repayment of lab fees,"
Dixon said. "The fees can go the lab or the local law enforcement
agency that conducts the test."

The NarTest system is just a miniature version of what the state lab
uses. Drug evidence is analyzed in minutes using Spectral
Fluorescence Signature technology or light, said Jacksonville police
officer James Gamel, a crime scene investigator who is getting
certified to be a chemical analyst.

The process requires some detail work because whenever evidence is
handled, every step - from opening the package it is contained in to
weighing it to securing it back in the packaging and initialing the
seals - is tracked.

Blank tests are done before each test to ensure all equipment is
clean and there is no trace evidence from a previous test still on
the equipment.

Every time cocaine is analyzed, two tests are done to determine
whether it is powder cocaine or base cocaine.

"We do two tests for cocaine, but they take less than 10 minutes,"
said Jacksonville police officer Shelly Partain, a crime scene
investigator who is getting certified to be a chemical analyst.

After each test is done, reports are generated, which are then
forwarded to the District Attorney's Office, said Gamel who expects
Jacksonville police will do between 80 and 85 tests per month.

"I think it's a good thing," Gamel said. "It will be a time saver for
the department and the officers. It would be wonderful if every
police department could have its own lab, but for budgetary reasons,
they can't do that. This is a step closer."