Is that drink spiked? Highlands leader pushes drug-detection stickers to prevent date rape
Druggings are a dangerous and serious crime, and Louisville Metro Police say they're becoming increasingly common at bars in the Highlands and other parts of the city.
"There's instances where (women) wake up in different locations, they don't know how they got to where they were," Lt. Glen Parcus said earlier this month.
Louisville officials, meanwhile, are taking action.
Soon, free stickers with drug detection capabilities are expected to be made available to bars by the Alcoholic Beverage Control to help fight against sexual assault in bars all over Louisville, Metro Councilwoman Cassie Chambers Armstrong announced Friday at a press conference alongside other local leaders.
"These stickers won’t solve the entire problem," she said. "But it’s one more tool to help keep our community safe.”
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In a presentation Friday at Molly Malone's Irish Pub, Louisville Metro ABC officer Lt. Brad Silveria and Armstrong, D-8th, showcased the latest in sexual assault preventative technology — stickers that can detect common drugs put into alcoholic drinks that knock out a person and make them forget what happened for several hours.
Armstrong and other Louisville officials believe use of drugs like Rohypnol and Gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) has risen, according to a recent LMPD announcement, and will provide the stickers free of charge to bars and other community members through a grant from Armstrong's office.
Many incidents of drug usage have been reported at businesses in Louisville's popular Highlands bar district, police said, and Armstrong said residents and visitors in her district have a right to feel and be safe.
“We know that women and members of our LGBTQ community are more likely to be the target of assault, including sexual assault," Armstrong said. "It’s crucially important that we do everything we can to prevent these assaults."
Silveria, who works as an enforcement supervisor, said he's "never seen" a surge like this. "One victim is too many."
He demonstrated how the stickers work and how they can prevent sexual assaults at bars. The stickers stick to the backs of phones and can determine whether drugs have been discreetly added to a drink through just a single drop placed on the sticker, which changes color if a drug is detected.
According to a Friday press release, Armstrong's office will support the project with the Neighborhood Development Fund grant in hopes of preventing sexual assaults from Rohypnol and other date rape drugs. The $1,000 provided to the program will be used to buy enough packages of stickers for bars all over Bardstown Road.
Caitlin Bowling, a city spokesperson, said the stickers have not been ordered yet, as ABC needs approval from the Metro Council's Appropriations Committee before doing so. She said they are trying to make the $1,000 grant "go a long way."
Silveria said recent reports indicate the Highlands is where the "largest concentration of victims who have been drugged" have been found.
"We're coming out of COVID and we're coming out of a lot of businesses struggling to survive and we want to see them thrive and do well," Silveria said. "And now we have somebody doing this to females in the bar district. It's awful."
During Friday's event, Armstrong said she wants to encourage more bars to use the stickers. They're a key tool to stay safe in a night out on the town, she said, whether users get them for free through the new program or through their personal doctor.
"If we can be proactive in giving people tools, making people feel safe, we know it's not going to solve the entire problem," Armstrong said. "But as we work on that problem, we want to make sure individuals can stay safe."
Contact Caleb Stultz at cstultz@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Caleb_Stultz.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville bars could soon get stickers that detect date rape drugs
