DECATUR - A Decatur company is retailing a new device that uses the forces of light to help police get methamphetamine off the street.

Decatur Electronics, the company that created the first police speed radar gun, is now selling the ID2 Meth Scanner.

The hand-held, battery powered device, about the size of a power drill, shoots out an ultraviolet light beam to read the chemical signature of meth. The officer points the scanner at a suspect substance and gets an instant result on an illuminated display panel. The machine identifies both meth and substances containing pseudoephedrine, a key meth ingredient.

The scanner is so sensitive, it can detect trace amounts left on clothing or skin measuring down to as small as 1/10,000th of a gram.

The new device isn't cheap, with Decatur Electronics describing its price as "less than $5,000 a unit," but the company says the machine's versatility, usefulness and economy over the long run will make it very attractive to law enforcement.

Kris Pearson, director of marketing for Decatur Electronics, said police use chemical field test kits that can cost between $15 and $45 each and can only be used once. He says the ID2, which runs on rechargeable batteries, could quickly pay for itself in busy police or drug enforcement operations.

"If you are in a drug interdiction unit, you might use 200 chemical test kits a week," Pearson added. He also points out that police departments that seize and sell vehicles and equipment owned by drug dealers generate their own revenue to help them do their jobs. "They keep money in a pool that can be used to buy equipment for drug fighting," he said.

The scanner was developed by a Tucson, Ariz., company called CDEX Inc., and Decatur Electronics has partnered with CDEX to market it. Pearson said Decatur Electronics wanted to get involved because this was "exciting, cutting-edge technology," and the Decatur company, tracing its roots back to 1955, has the marketing expertise to sell it.

"We've got the right channels and the recognized name among law enforcement," he said. "We go to about 80 trade shows a year and will be marketing this device to police, the Drug Enforcement Agency and special task forces."

The scanner has been field-tested by city and sheriff's departments in other parts of the country, and Decatur Electronics is in discussions with Decatur police about a trial of the ID2.

Decatur police Lt. David Dickerson said he hadn't heard of the scanner but liked the idea. "Sounds interesting," he said. "I can see where it would be something of interest to law enforcement, definitely; another tool in the arsenal out there to combat illegal narcotics."

And one bit of good news, at least in Decatur, is that the amount of meth the scanner could be called on to identify is dwindling. Dickerson said tough new laws controlling the sale of medicines often used for making meth and an effective anti-meth advertising campaign by the Illinois Meth Project were getting results.

"The problems we've seen with meth have gone down, based on what we've seen in the city limits of Decatur," Dickerson added. "It's much more difficult to get the ingredients to make meth than it was previously."

Statewide, however, meth is still a major problem. A survey by the Illinois Meth Project found that one teen in 20 says he or she has close friends who use meth. One teen in 10 has a family member in treatment for meth.