Technology that can detect drugs commonly found in DUI and drug-facilitated sexual assault cases is coming to Contra Costa County.
The Forensic Services Division of the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff plans to use a $408,853 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to purchase the technology, called a Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometer (LC-MS/MS). The equipment will be housed in the sheriff’s crime laboratory and used in cases countywide.
“The new equipment can detect illegal drugs, prescription drugs, and over-the-counter drugs commonly found” in the DUI and assault cases, the sheriff’s office said.
In a statement, Contra Costa County Sheriff David O. Livingston said the technology “will increase our efficiency and enable us to provide rapid results to law enforcement and prosecutors on DUID cases in Contra Costa County.”
The purchase, training and method validation involved in rolling out the technology is expected to take up to one year, the sheriff’s office said.
