To: Board of Supervisors
From: Esa Ehmen-Krause, County Probation Officer
Report Title: TruNarc System Purchase Order
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Purchasing Agent to execute, on behalf of the County Probation Officer, a purchase order, containing modified indemnification language, with Thermo Scientific Portable Analytical Instruments, Inc in an amount not to exceed $160,000 for drug testing equipment, supplies, and training for the period of June 1, 2024 through May 31, 2029.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This action will result in equipment expenditures of up to $160,000. This purchase will be funded 100% by the Department’s General Fund allocation.
BACKGROUND:
Approval to execute a purchase order with Thermo Scientific Portable Analytical Instruments, Inc., will allow the Department to utilize the TruNarc system. This system provides a safer way to test over 530 highest priority illicit and abused narcotics such as heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl in a single drug test. The substance is scanned directly through plastic or glass for most drug test samples to minimize contamination, reduce exposure, and preserve evidence. TruNarc is a hand-held system that can be utilized both in the field and in a custodial setting. Acquiring this technology allows for immediate identification of harmful substances allowing for instant identification to ensure the safety of our officers. Micro amounts of certain narcotics absorbed through skin, or accidentally ingested can cause immediate overdoses and deaths to our officers. Trunac will reduce the risk of exposure and increase the safety of our officers. Additional benefits of TruNarc tests are that they do not require direct contact with most substances; they deliver clear, real-time results for presumptive evidence; they provide automated, tamper-proof records with scan results which include time-and-date stamps.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Without this purchase, probation staff would not have access to the safer method of substance testing that TruNarc provides.