ALLIANCE ‒ The city's Police Department is buying new tools to combat drug addiction in the community.

City Council on Aug. 4 approved the purchase of two Apex-NARC scanners, plus training service, from DetectaChem, Inc., for about $50,390.

The scanners allow first responders to quickly and more accurately identify the drugs in an overdose event. The department's current field-test kits are limited to detect certain drugs, making them less effective.

Sgt. Chris McCord said the current tests use basic chemicals, such as acids, to look at enzymes to help determine the kind of narcotics used. He said results can be inconclusive or inaccurate, and take weeks at a lab. The tests also struggle with synthetics.

"What these (scanners) do is they have a swab technique. You swab the drugs, put i

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