In April 2010, Palm Bay Police Department approached Escent Technologies, LLC to discuss the science behind its revolutionary handheld, solid-state, pill and powder identification system, ChemPrint™.  With the science being sound, Escent Technologies, LLC and Palm Bay Police Department agreed to work in concert to bring ChemPrint™ from proof-of-concept, to field trial and, finally, to commercial sale.  This product, pictured below, enables law enforcement to perform rapid, roadside, non-destructive, pill and powder identification.

The leap of creativity is tantamount to the introduction of the Intoxilizer.  ChemPrint™ brings laboratory-style results to the road-side at an affordable and sustainable cost.  Initially, it is a tool for law enforcement to conduct presumptive screens in a scientific, rather than visual manner.  As this tool moves from the field to the courtroom for validation, it is a significant cost reduction enabler (lab costs, case close cycle-time, etc.). This will be important, as we see organized crime distributing “self-manufactured” pills.  Furthermore, the data architecture of this product stimulates substance fingerprint data sharing on a domestic and international level, enabling data analysis across geographies, more detailed reporting and may lead to larger conspiracy-style arrests.