Police to field-test for drugs

The prosecutor says cops' drug field-test results will hold up in court.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;By PATRICIA MEADE & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Over the past 20-plus years, the city has paid Tri-State Laboratories to test drugs for municipal court cases -- even though the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation tests for free.
In 2002, the city scaled back its annual contract with Tri-State, 2870 Salt Springs Road, for the police department from $5,900 to $4,000 per month.
Kept in that contract, which ends in September, were alcohol and drug screenings for urine or blood, tests for narcotics and pre-employment drug analysis.
Dropped from the contract were tests for sexual assault (semen and blood), handwriting and typewriting analysis, blood type comparisons and tests for trace evidence (paint, hairs, fibers). These items now go to BCI for testing.
BCI also provides polygraphs, DNA, firearm, fingerprint, document and tool-mark examinations and analysis.
In the past, Tri-State was chosen over BCI because it had a shorter turnaround time for lab reports used at preliminary hearings in municipal court for drug cases, city officials said. Such hearings must be held within 10 days of arrest, unless a defendant waives time.
The use of Tri-State will greatly diminish and the use of BCI will increase, now that 15 Youngstown Police Department officers have been certified to field-test most drugs, said Lt. Rod Foley, vice squad commander. The certified officers are assigned to the vice squad, gang unit and Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement and Drug Enforcement Administration task forces.
Explanation
The term field test refers both to the officers' ability to determine a drug's authenticity at the scene of an arrest or at vice squad headquarters on Market Street.
The test kits are small, inexpensive (about $1.50 each) plastic pouches that contain ampuls of reagents that, when exposed to crack cocaine, for example, change color.
Beginning in September, field-test result forms will be used at preliminary hearings instead of Tri-State's drug analysis reports, said city Prosecutor Dionne M. Almasy. She is confident field-test results meet the criteria required at the preliminary -- or probable cause -- stage of a felony charge.
Some defendants waive their right to a preliminary hearing and have their charges bound over to a Mahoning County grand jury. If the preliminary hearing proceeds, witnesses are called and reports offered as evidence before the judge determines whether the case should be sent to a grand jury.
Almasy said a lab's analysis of cocaine, heroin or marijuana, for example, is not needed as evidence at a preliminary hearing or grand jury session -- a field-test report will suffice. Lab analysis reports aren't needed until trial, she said.
BCI will be used, mostly, to supply lab analysis for trials, Foley said. BCI increased its lab staff last year under then-Attorney General Betty Montgomery, Foley said.
Tri-State will likely still be used for some tests, Foley said. Which tests will be determined as time goes by.
"We're paying state tax dollars for BCI -- why not use them?" Foley said.
About Tri-State
Kim Norris, Attorney General Jim Petro's spokeswoman in Columbus, said BCI believes it can handle the anticipated increase for lab work from Youngstown police. BCI's goal is to provide the best possible service, she said.
Almasy was asked if she expects the field-test results to be challenged by defense attorneys or judges in municipal court, who are accustomed to Tri-State lab reports. The prosecutor said she'll cross that bridge when she comes to it.
Tri-State is owned by Bari Lateef, former chairman at Youngstown State University's criminal justice department. He said the use of drug-test kit results in court would be a step backward, and that an absolutely accurate report should be used at probable-cause and grand jury proceedings.
He said Tri-State does not charge extra if the city exceeds the baseline number of tests listed in the contract. For example, the contract allows for 800 to 1,000 narcotic tests annually, but the city typically sends many more.
Field-test kits have been used by city police for years, just never in court, said Lt. William Powell, who transferred from the vice squad in May after 19 years as its commander.
Powell, now a day-turn supervisor, said he suggested years ago using field-test results at preliminary hearings and grand juries. He said Almasy and Gene Fehr, an assistant county prosecutor, agreed to the idea, but then-Police Chief Richard Lewis never acted upon it.
Foley had better luck with Police Chief Robert E. Bush Jr. "I told the chief it makes good sense -- it saves court detail officers' time and will save the city a lot of money down the road," Foley said.
In Boardman
Boardman Chief Jeffrey Patterson said his department quit using Tri-State this year and began using BCI exclusively. Boardman also has a staff person qualified to test marijuana, he said.
There have been no problems with BCI's meeting deadlines for preliminary hearings, Patterson said. He said BCI's turnaround time for test results has speeded up.
Beaver Township Chief Carl N. Frost said his department used Tri-State years ago but now uses BCI and relies on field-test drug results for preliminary hearings if a case is not directly presented to a grand jury. He, too, said there have been no problems with BCI turnaround time for lab results.
The Mahoning County Sheriff's Department contracts with Tri-State and pays $90 per case for drug analysis, said Sheriff Randall A. Wellington. He said his budget allows for $5,000 each year.
The sheriff said if the field-test results work for city police at preliminary hearings, he'll consider using them and send drugs to BCI for analysis.
& lt;a href=mailto:meade@vindy.com & gt;meade@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;