NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A new roadside drug-detection device could soon help Tennessee law enforcement determine in real time whether a driver has drugs in their system- or potentially nothing at all. After an ongoing FOX 17 News investigation, we’re looking into how officers can not only use the SoToxa device to target dangerous DUI drivers, but also to possibly avoid ‘sober DUI’ arrests.
“Oftentimes, we’re going to a call or a suspected DUI, and we’re not for sure,” Clarksville Police Chief Charles “Ty” Burdine said during a city council meeting in late October. “We don’t want the person on the road if they shouldn’t be driving, but we also want the truth.”
Clarksville is one of about 24 law enforcement agencies chosen to use the SoToxa device, through a Tennessee Highway Safety Office grant. SoToxa uses a saliva sample to detect certain drugs within minutes. Abbott Laboratories, which manufactures the device, said SoToxa is used by law enforcement agencies in more than 30 states. In Tennessee, approximately 35 systems are in use, according to Abbott representatives in an email to FOX17 News, including in Chattanooga, Shelby County, and Cleveland…