Sheriff’s office to put two new drug analyzers into use

Drug use involving synthetic opioids has been on the rise locally over the last decade, and now the Vilas County Sheriff’s Office will gain important drug identification tools to aid law enforcement.

Vilas County Sheriff Gerard Ritter addressed the board on the importance of purchasing two TruNarc Delta handheld narcotic analyzers using funds from the county’s Opioid Fund.

These TruNarc analyzers use a spectrometer that focuses on the product without any agents having to handle the substance to see what it actually is; something Ritter said will be a big help to his staff.

Currently, law enforcement has to collect substances for fentanyl in pairs — which Ritter called “a very volatile substance to work with” — for proper testing. It’s then placed in an evidence locker where detectives can test the substance to identify what’s in it. If they are unable to tell what it is, they send it off to the state crime lab.

The sheriff said this current chain of steps can be dangerous for officers as well as time consuming and expensive, which is where the analyzers come into play.

“This allows any officer to analyze drug products in their original package,” he said. “It saves money and time.”

The tool can ID more than just fentanyl, Ritter said, indicating it can also pick out methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana and other types of drugs.

The cost of both analyzers is $86,120, which was approved by the county last month. One will be kept on the west side of the county with Arbor Vitae Police Department, and the second will be kept at the Vilas County Sheriff’s Office. Ritter added that Lac du Flambeau already has one in use.

The county’s Opioid Fund receives funding from opioid settlements, but there are rules in place on what it can be spent on.

Vilas County’s Finance Director Darcy Smith said this purchase was an appropriate use of monies from the Opioid Fund, adding that there is more than $600,000 currently in the fund with more being added annually.