AGENDA REPORT
TO: Elizabeth Lake FROM: James Beere
Interim City Administrator Chief of Police
SUBJECT: CHP Toxicology Crime Laboratories
Grant Funds for DUID
DATE: July 28, 2026
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Accept And Appropriate A Grant Award In The Amount Of Two Hundred Seventy Thousand Nine Hundred Forty-Two Dollars ($270,942) From The State Of California Highway Patrol (CHP) Impaired Driving Section For The Fiscal Year 2026-2028, To Be Administered By The Oakland Police Department (OPD) Crime Laboratory.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Adoption of this resolution will allow laboratory improvement grant funds to be received by the OPD Crime Laboratory to ensure traffic safety by way of identifying Driving Under the Influence / Driving Under the Influence of Drugs (DUI/DUID) cases in real time and prevent future occurrences. The grant awards are from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2028. The $270,942 in grants awarded to OPD will be used to:
• Cover personnel overtime costs for Crime Laboratory Staff • Purchase supplies, chemicals, and service contracts for the Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometer (LC/MS) instrument and supporting components • Cover expenses for DUID Toxicology Testing
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
In November 2016 California voters approved Proposition 64, the Control, Regulate, and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act (AUMA), which legalized the recreational use of cannabis in California for people 21 and older. Proposition 64 also directed a portion of state cannabis tax revenue towards a grant program administered by the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to assist with law enforcement or other local programs addressing public health and safety associated with AUMA. With the passage of Proposition 64, in 2016 California voters mandated that the state set aside funding for the California Highway Patrol (CHP) to disperse for the education, prevention, and enforcement of impaired driving laws. In early 2024 the CHP released a Request for Proposals for grant applications for local jurisdictions, and OPD applied for and received grant funds under the toxicology portion. According to CHP grant requirements, the toxicology grant funds shall be used to purchase equipment, improve, and Elizabeth Lake (Sep 10, 2026 16:21:39 PDT)
Sep 10, 2026
Elizabeth Lake, Interim City Administrator
Subject: CHP Toxicology Crime Laboratories Grant Funds for DUID Date: July 30, 2026 Page 2
Public Safety Committee
September 22, 2026
advance the standardization of practices in toxicology laboratories supporting driving under the influence of alcohol and other drugs (DUI/DUID), including cannabis and cannabis products.
Driving Under the Influence of alcohol and drugs continues to take a major toll on the citizens of Oakland. The correlation between DUI/DUID’s and hit and runs, as well as fatal accidents is well known through studies from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
CHP Program History
City Council previously authorized acceptance of CHP Toxicology Crime Laboratories program funds in 2024. This is the second offering of the program.
• Resolution No. 90449 C.M.S., dated October 1, 2024
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The City of Oakland continues to be challenged by the need to respond to the amount of vehicle collisions that occur within its limits. The Police Department reports an excess of 5,000 collisions per year, and many involve fatal or serious injuries. The funds received by the Laboratory are specifically to be used for DUI/DUID support and traffic enforcement. This program will directly assist traffic enforcement operations in Oakland by funding the expenses for toxicology testing of samples from drivers suspected of DUI/DUID. This will help minimize the unnecessary loss of life, injuries, and property damage caused by impaired drivers. The Laboratory will also assist DUI/DUID investigations and Alcoholic Beverage Action Team (ABAT) operations by developing instrumental methods to test suspected cannabis samples for THC and examining exhibits for other impairing substances.
Table 1 - Oakland Collisions, Injuries, and Fatalities: 2021-2023
Collision
Type
2021 2022 2023
Collisions Victims Collisions Victims Collisions Victims Fatal 34 34 36 38 30 31
Injury 1907 2165 1804 2334 1140 1535
Fatal Injury Killed Injured Fatal Injury Killed Injured Fatal Injury Killed Injured Alcohol -
Involved 3 49 3 83 0 27 0 35 9 88 5 120
Hit &
Run 12 830 12 903 12 543 14 650 13 398 14 491
Nighttime
(2100-
0259
hours) 15 188 15 221 21 318 23 418 11 174 11 231
Table 1 shows that alcohol-involved, injury collisions peaked in 2023 at 88 resulting in 120 people being injured and 9 people killed. It is unknown what additional impairing substances, if Elizabeth Lake, Interim City Administrator
Subject: CHP Toxicology Crime Laboratories Grant Funds for DUID Date: July 30, 2026 Page 3
Public Safety Committee
September 22, 2026
any, are responsible for other collisions or hit & runs not initially reported as DUI/DUID’s.
However, the data clearly demonstrates a need to establish a scientifically supported program to assess what drugs an impaired driver is under the influence of, in addition to alcohol, at the time of the accident.
The Oakland Police Department (OPD) faced many challenges over the last several years and this upcoming year is no different. The City of Oakland has dealt with a $360 million budget deficit over the last 2 years and the Police Department is expected to cut 15% of our budget per year. It is imperative for the Oakland Police Department Criminalistics Division (OPD Crime Lab) to seek grant funding to reduce the financial burden on the City and Police Department’s budget. The OPD Crime Lab’s Drug Analysis Unit is trained and accredited to perform qualitative solid dose drug analysis. Moreover, the crime laboratory does not have the infrastructure and methods to perform traditional toxicology analyses. Thus, the Department contracts out all toxicology testing for DUI/DUID. The previous laboratory that provided toxicology testing services was closed, which caused delays in the prosecution of DUI/DUID cases in Oakland. This grant funding will be used to cover the expenses for toxicology testing by an outside laboratory.
The OPD Crime Lab has expanded their analytical scope to include total D9-THC determination in cannabis plant samples; however, there is still an unmet need to broaden the analytical scope to include other psychotropic compounds found in different matrices such as plant material, food products, vapes, candies, chocolates, and gummies. To fill this analytical gap and bolster the prosecution of DUID cases involving various psychotropic compounds, the OPD Crime Lab plans to use grant funds to build upon the THC quantitative method already in place to include qualitative analysis of food products containing other impairing substances.
The grant funding will allow the OPD Crime Lab to support law enforcement efforts and investigations for driving under the influence of drugs and ultimately increase traffic safety. The acceptance of this grant would result in the ability to assemble more data, in the field in real time, with a broader array of toxicology analytes, such as cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. This data would be compiled to understand the breadth of impairment observed at DUI checkpoints.
Staff will operate the grant in accordance with OPD policies and the CHP grant requirements.
The OPD Crime Lab will also produce progress reports on the validation of the Liquid chromatography/Mass Spectrometer (LC/MS) analytical methods. In general, validation and implementation of new analytical instrumentation and methods is a time consuming and arduous process. Time will be needed to have meaningful data on the number of exhibits analyzed using the LC/MS. In the meantime, the OPD Crime Laboratory will provide progress reports on a quarterly basis.
RELATED PLANNING EFFORTS
This agenda item is a routine item and does not relate to any Oakland strategic planning efforts.
FISCAL IMPACT
Elizabeth Lake, Interim City Administrator
Subject: CHP Toxicology Crime Laboratories Grant Funds for DUID Date: July 30, 2026 Page 4
Public Safety Committee
September 22, 2026
CHP will reimburse the City up to $270,942 for the staff overtime, supplies, chemicals, service contracts and DUID toxicology testing to assist DUID investigations during the grant period of July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2028. Funds for the grant will be allocated in the State of California Other Fund (2159), Criminalistics Organization (102610), Criminalistics Program (PS05), and in the Project to be determined. The program will be managed by the Crime Lab Manager. A breakdown of the appropriated project funding source and the budget for the grant award is outlined in Tables 2 and 3 below.
Table 2: Project Funding Sources
Fund
Source
Organization Account Project Program Amount
2159 102610 TBD TBD PS05 $270,942
Table 3: Use of Toxicology Funds
Use of Toxicology Funds Amount
Crime laboratory staff overtime costs $70,942
Supplies and chemicals $40,000
Liquid chromatography/Mass Spec (LC/MS) service contract $110,000 DUID toxicology testing $50,000
TOTAL $270,942
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
No outreach was deemed necessary for the proposed policy action beyond the standard City Council agenda noticing procedures, because no new Departmental policy will be required to accept the grant funds.
COORDINATION
The Budget Bureau and the Office of the City Attorney were consulted by OPD on the production of this report as well as the accompanying resolution.
RACE AND EQUITY
Driving Under the Influence of drugs and alcohol negatively impacts public safety and the quality of life of all Oaklanders regardless of the legality to consume them. Efforts to address these problems will lead to quality life improvements and increased pedestrian and vehicle safety for all residents and visitors.
Elizabeth Lake, Interim City Administrator
Subject: CHP Toxicology Crime Laboratories Grant Funds for DUID Date: July 30, 2026 Page 5
Public Safety Committee
September 22, 2026
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That The City Council Adopt A Resolution Authorizing The City Administrator To Accept And Appropriate A Grant Award In The Amount Of Two Hundred Seventy Thousand Nine Hundred Forty-Two Dollars ($270,942) From The State Of California Highway Patrol (CHP) Impaired Driving Section For The Fiscal Year 2026-2028, To Be Administered By The Oakland Police Department (OPD) Crime Laboratory.
For questions regarding this report, please contact Bonnie Cheng, OPD Criminalistics Acting Laboratory Manager, at 510-238-3386.
Reviewed by:
Bonnie Cheng, Acting Lab Manager
OPD, Criminalistics Division
Dr. Tracey Jones, Police Services Manager
OPD, Research and Planning
Prepared by:
Esmeraldo Gorecho, Criminalist III
OPD, Drug Analysis Unit