Pubdate: Tue, 05 May 2015
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2015 Sun-Times Media, LLC
Contact: http://mapinc.org/url/5QwXAJWY
Website: http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81

USE DRUG FIELD TESTS TO IMPROVE JUSTICE, SAVE MONEY

In Cook County, it's possible for someone to sit in jail for a couple 
of weeks on a drug charge even if they had no drugs. That's not good, 
obviously, and cries out for reform.

In every other county in Illinois, police do a field test when they 
stop someone suspected of possessing illegal drugs. If the substance 
in question doesn't test positive for an illegal drug, the person who 
has been stopped is free to go. But in Cook County police 
departments, including Chicago, a suspect sometimes must wait in 
jail-if he can't make bail-until the suspected cocaine or heroin is 
analyzed at a state crime lab and, only then, a probable cause 
hearing can be held.

Cook County is different because of a court ruling dating back 
decades to a time when reliable field tests didn't exist. But this is 
no historical curiosity. In Cook County, justice is denied, and 
injustice gets expensive. It costs taxpayers an estimated $ 143 a day 
to keep someone in Cook County Jail.

Even if the person truly was holding drugs, the current system could 
be more just. When the police can do an immediate field test, rather 
than send the suspicious material off to the lab, the time between an 
arrest and a probable cause hearing becomes much shorter.

A bill in Springfield that has passed the House and is in the Senate 
would create a one-year, $ 30,000 pilot program that would bring 
field testing to Cook County for marijuana, cocaine and heroin. It is 
an opportunity to save money, reduce the jail population and even 
ease the load at the state crime lab. The field tests are simple and 
cheap: Police put the suspicious substance in a vial of chemicals 
that costs $ 1.25 or so, then pull the substance back out and see if 
it has changed color. It's about as easy as a home pregnancy test.

If a drug field test is positive, a case can be disposed of more 
quickly, easing the backlog in the courts. The tests are not as 
accurate as the crime lab, but they are good enough for Illinois' 101 
other counties, and the courts have deemed them sufficient.

Chicago police already are using field tests when they stop someone 
for 15 grams or less of marijuana, and a spokesman said the 
department is studying whether field tests for other types of drugs 
are feasible.

The Legislature's pilot program would go a long way toward answering 
that question. It should be started without delay.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom