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Posted by: kwflatbed

By Rocco Parascandola
Newsday

NEW YORK — The NYPD wants more narcotics cops to learn how to field- test the heroin, cocaine and marijuana they seize, Newsday has learned.
The tests - to confirm a narcotic is what police suspect and enable a case to be brought — have been conducted for years by officers in the borough narcotics units. But under terms of a new pilot program, field-testing is being expanded to the precinct Street Narcotics Enforcement units in Brooklyn. Other boroughs will be brought aboard if the pilot is successful, police sources said.
The reason is simple: The NYPD wants to lighten the workload and overtime costs for technicians at its laboratory. It also hopes the program will help reduce the number of times an enforcement unit officer has to go to court on a case, sources said.
But there are concerns, as a number of drug cases in several cities have been dismissed after it was learned tests were improperly conducted or not conducted at all, with officers caught lying.
NYPD sources stressed no such problems have occurred with the borough narcotics units.
Further tests, sources said, will be conducted at the NYPD's laboratory, so weight and purity of the drugs can be determined and passed on to prosecutors trying to build a case against a suspect.
The initiative comes at a time when narcotics supervisors in Brooklyn are trying to build bigger cases focused more on tackling drug crews rather than individual sellers, sources said.
The tests will be conducted in precincts by officers who undergo training and with a supervisor present. Training typically involves a narcotics officer conducting 20 tests, with samples of heroin, cocaine and marijuana tested, along with oregano, Sheetrock and baking powder, the items often sold by dealers looking to scam their customers.
Those conducting the tests will be responsible for keeping the portable kits out of sunlight and ensuring the precinct test area is clean, according to an internal NYPD memo obtained by Newsday. Testers must wear protective gloves, goggles and a disposable dust mask, the memo says, and a different kit must be used for each sample to ensure proper findings.
Last year, Don Bolles, the drummer for The Germs, a legendary punk band, was arrested in Newport Beach, Calif., for felony drug possession after police found a bottle of Dr. Bonner's Magic Soap in his van. A field test concluded the soap contained GHB, the date-rape drug, and Bolles was charged with felony drug possession and spent more than three days in jail.
But a subsequent test by the police crime lab concluded the evidence in question was soap, not dope, and the charges were dropped.
Earlier this year, Dallas authorities revealed as many as 30 immigrants were wrongly jailed on drug charges, in part because field tests were done improperly or not done at all, facts not learned until defense lawyers requested the test results.


Wire Service

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