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 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 and Officer Safety 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 methamphetamine and fentanyl with high specificity in seconds. It can sense 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, place the device aperture on the sample (while it is still in the bag), and within seconds the lights will indicate whether the substance is methamphetamine, fentanyl, or neither. The DrugDetect-F1 is designed with simplicity in mind with no extensive training required for operation. In fact, training or orientation with the device can be accomplished in less than five minutes.
4) Why do you believe your products are essential to law enforcement?
The DrugDetect-F1 is state-of-the-art officer safety equipment perfect for officers with potential exposure to dangerous narcotics, whether conducting roadside traffic stops or cell inspections at a corrections facility. The DrugDetect-F1 can provide safety for these officers by allowing them to detect hazardous narcotics without handling or touching the unknown substances. This product is becoming even more essential as fentanyl contamination in street narcotics continues to rise, leading to officer injuries from harmful exposure.
5) What has been the biggest challenge your company has faced?
We realized that there was 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 and officer safety purposes.
6) What makes your company unique?
Lightsense focuses on constantly improving and innovating our products. We do this while ensuring great customer communication through attentive customer service. We understand that the officer in the field or in a corrections facility requires a quick turnaround for a unit that may require servicing. A unit that is out of service is not providing safety to the officer, and we strive to minimize unit downtime.
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 simple, robust functionality of our product without any hidden maintenance or subscription fees. Here at Lightsense, we view our client-business relationships as partnerships rather than transactions, and strive to work with, and for the law enforcement community.
8) What is the most rewarding part of serving the first responder/local government community?
Knowing that officers in the field are safe while encountering dangerous narcotics is what drives Lightsense to make the best and most useful Methamphetamine and Fentanyl detector in the field. That is why Lenny Lemer Muñiz, Vice President for Law Enforcement Operations, serves as Lightsense Technology’s law enforcement representative and liaison. As a former narcotics 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 will provide even more functionality, detecting a variety of drugs within samples. This will be an exciting evolution of our product tailored to the law enforcement and first responder community.