Police1’s Spotlight articles introduce the products and services of a valued sponsor in their own words. This article shines a spotlight on Lightsense Technology, an Arizona-based company that designs and manufactures innovative miniaturized spectrometers for a range of business and consumer applications.
1) Where did your company name originate from?
The Lightsense company name insinuates the application of spectroscopy to sensible solutions in the public health sector.
2) What was the inspiration behind starting your company?
Inspired by technological advancements in spectroscopy, Lightsense was founded to solve public health problems during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although we made leaps in pathogenic detection, Lightsense found another application for its versatile technology in narcotic detection for law enforcement. This breakthrough revelation created our flagship product: the DrugDetect-F1. Now, Lightsense continues to innovate upon this simple, convenient, safety solution for officers in the field, hoping to provide even more functionality and narcotic detection capabilities down the road.
3) What is your signature product and how does it work?
The DrugDetect-F1 provides a unique level of safety for law enforcement officers. This easy-to-use, point-and-shoot device is the size of a smartphone, making it highly portable for officers in the field. It uses spectroscopy to detect illicit drugs with high specificity in seconds. It does this through plastic bags and plastic wrap, avoiding direct contact with highly toxic substances. The DrugDetect-F1 is calibrated to detect traces of methamphetamine and fentanyl in drugs in powder form. Users simply turn the device on, mix the narcotics sample by shaking the bag it is in, place the device aperture on the sample (while it is still in the bag), and interpret the reading. The DrugDetect-F1 is designed with simplicity in mind with no extensive training required for operation.
4) Why do you believe your products are essential to law enforement?
The DrugDetect-F1 is state-of-the-art officer safety equipment. For any officers, whether they are conducting roadside traffic stops or cell inspections at a corrections unit, working in the field with potentially dangerous narcotics has threatened the safety and lives of this community. The DrugDetect-F1 can provide security for these officers by allowing them to detect hazardous narcotics without even touching unknown substances. This product is becoming even more essential as fentanyl contamination in street narcotics continues to rise, leading to officer deaths from harmful exposure.
5) What has been the biggest challenge your company has faced?
Lightsense Technology saw space for innovation in the world of spectroscopy; however, we found our fair share of technological challenges along the way. Our persistence led to the creation of highly sensitive and portable spectrometers for public health purposes.
6) What makes your company unique?
Lightsense focuses on constantly improving and innovating our products. We do this while ensuring good customer relationships through attentive customer service.
7) What do your customers like best about you and your products?
Customers appreciate our attentive customer service that offers flexibility to meet everyone’s needs. They also appreciate the easy robust functionality of our product without any hidden maintenance or subscription fees. Here at Lightsense, we like to view our client-business relationships as partnerships rather than transactions, striving to work with and for the law enforcement community.
8) What is the most rewarding part of serving the first responder/local government community?
Lenny Lemer serves as Lightsense Technology’s law enforcement representative. As a former NYPD officer, Lenny understands first-hand the safety risks that affect officers in the field. He feels that the most rewarding part of working with Lightsense is “knowing that our product provides safety to the law enforcement community on a day-to-day basis.”
9) What’s next for your company? Any upcoming new projects or initiatives?
Lightsense Technology is breaking new ground in multichannel spectroscopy through the integration of AI. This iteration of the DrugDetect-F1 would provide even more functionality, detecting a variety of drugs within samples. This will be an exciting evolution of our product.