No roadside drug tester for MHPS

By Jeremy Appel on September 28, 2018.

jappel@medicinehatnews.com @MHNJeremyAppel

The Medicine Hat Police Service will not be purchasing the federally-approved Drager Drug Test 5000 to test for impaired driving, according to the chief.

Andy McGrogan says it would be wasteful for the MHPS to purchase the devices when there are newer and more effective technologies in development for testing drug impairment.

He likened the Drager device to ghetto blasters people used to play music on before walkmans, CDs and iPods.

“We’re kind of in the ghetto blaster on your shoulder stage and we’re trying to get to basically a digital stage, where the devices are smaller, more compact, more reliable, easier to use in different, varying weather,” said McGrogan.

“There’s still so much that’s going to change in that technology piece and I’m really reluctant to buy something that’s really old and probably going to be outdated extremely soon.”

He said there are a couple more advanced devices that are approaching approval, which he and other police chiefs in Alberta would like to wait for.

Even if MHPS opted to purchase the Drager device, they wouldn’t have it in time for legalization day on Oct. 17, McGrogan added.

“We still have the ability to use drug recognition experts. We can still draw blood once the laws change,” he said.

“We’re still in OK shape, but that other detection piece would be an extremely beneficial investigation tool.”

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