Released by Orange County Sheriff’s Department
The Orange County Crime Laboratory (OCCL) has received a $350,000 grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety to purchase new instrumentation for increased identification and quantitation of prescription and abused drugs for cases when driving under the influence of Drugs (DUID) is suspected.

This technology will provide more comprehensive toxicological testing of DUID case samples. Obtaining these additional equipment funds was done in cooperation with and through the assistance of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

In recent studies, 23 percent of all fatally injured drivers tested positive for drug involvement. In another study where drivers voluntarily allowed for testing, more tested positive for marijuana (8.4 percent) than for alcohol (7.6 percent).

“Drunk driving continues to be the number one killer on our roadways, but we’re seeing more legal and illegal drugs involved in crashes than ever before,” said Office of Traffic Safety Director Christopher J. Murphy. “The effort that the Orange County Crime Laboratory will be able to undertake with this new equipment will make the county a safer place to live and work.”

For these programs to be successful, accredited forensic laboratories must provide equipment, technical support, operator training, expert testimony, and ultimately, reliable analytical results. The OCCL is responsible for both the evidential breath alcohol and toxicological analysis programs for more than 27 law enforcement and government agencies within the County of Orange, including the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Department. These agencies continue to request our assistance as they administer their own DUI and DUID enforcement programs.

OCCL maintains a nationally recognized unit for forensic testing and testimony on driving under-the influence investigations. Whether driving under-the-influence of alcohol (DUI), drugs (DUID), or both, the chemical testing technologies used in forensic science are increasingly more vital to the investigation and judicial proceedings of these cases. DUI and DUID cases often involve roadside sobriety checkpoints, mobile task forces, and zero tolerance legislation for minors; and may be influenced by the increased use of prescription and illicit drugs, the use of the preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) devices for field sobriety, Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE) testing, and on-site portable evidential testing.

Currently, the OCCL has one of the most recognized and innovative portable evidentiary breath testing (PEBT) programs in the state of California. The current PEBT program has been in place in Orange County for nearly ten years, and is continuing to advance with the assistance of $547,484 in 2011-2012 grant funds from the California Office of Traffic Safety / National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The grant funds will enable the OCCL to achieve full program replacement of all portable evidential breath testing instruments within Orange County.

Through competent and professional scientific results, the OCCL is committed to continuing support of improved traffic safety in the County of Orange. By using state of the art technology, timely and comprehensive analytical results are assured in DUI and DUID cases. Through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the California Office of Traffic Safety awarded the OCCL $897,484 in total grant funds to continue, and also improve the assistance given to traffic safety and law enforcement organizations within the County of Orange.