The innovative Lumi™ Drug Scan Service has been jointly-developed by ESR and New Zealand Police to enable law enforcement officers to rapidly test suspected drug samples for the presence of MDMA, cocaine, and methamphetamine, using a handheld device, and then receive near-instant results on their smartphone.
Unlike traditional chemical drug testing kits, Lumi™ has an intuitive interface designed with frontline Police. The devices can also screen samples through plastic, meaning suspected items don’t need to be opened, protecting officers from potentially harmful substances.
Lumi™ compares samples against ESR’s comprehensive database of illegal drugs, and utilises machine-learning algorithms hosted in the cloud to identify when a drug sample is present. Results appear directly within the Lumi™ app, and a PDF report summarising the test is sent to the police officer’s email address, providing impartial analysis of the sample.
ESR and New Zealand Police initiated a six-month pilot to assess the efficiency and impact of Lumi™ testing in 2020. The pilot enabled police to experience the benefits of Lumi™ first hand by testing the service in frontline situations across the Auckland City, Counties Manakau, Waitematā, Central, and Canterbury Police Districts. The pilot concluded in January 2021, and the data gathered during this time was evaluated for inclusion in an Evidence Based Policing Centre Evaluation Report.
ESR is continuing to develop Lumi™ with new features being added to the application and new drug detection models being developed. Email lumi.support@esr.cri.nz to find out more about the Lumi™ Drug Scan service.
If you'd like to know more about Lumi™
There's more information about Lumi™ Drug Scan in this leaflet [PDF, 3.5 MB].
