MARSHALL — Collecting and testing trace evidence can be part of criminal investigations. But the process of taking samples might look unusual to the public, area law enforcement officers said. Sometimes, tools like cloth gloves can be used for collecting possible samples of drug residue.

Recently, the Independent spoke with members of the Marshall Police Department, the New Ulm Police Department, and the Brown-Lyon-Redwood-Renville Drug Task Force about some of the methods that can be used to detect possible drug residue.

Questions about drug testing rose earlier this month when a video alleging that Marshall Police officers planted drug evidence on an apartment door was posted on YouTube. In clips of body-worn camera footage in the video, a police officer could be seen handling a plastic bag and putting on gloves before rubbing a door handle.

On March 13, Marshall Public Safety Director Jim Marshall posted a statement on social media saying the allegations made in the video were not true.

The Independent spoke with investigator Tara Martin of the New Ulm Police Department, Jim Marshall, and a member of the Brown-Lyon-Redwood-Renville Drug Task Force about how law enforcement agents collect evidence like drug residue. Marshall asked that the BLRR agent not be named because he was working undercover.

The BLRR agent said testing for drug residue would generally be just one part of a broader investigation by the drug task force. When a person handles drugs, residue can be left behind on other surfaces the person touches, the agent said.

Both Tara Martin and the BLRR agent said law enforcement can sometimes wear cloth gloves to gather possible evidence of drug residue. This method of swabbing would be used with a piece of equipment called a Scintex Trace detector. Martin said the BLRR has had a Scintex Trace N2300 trace detector since about 2024.

When collecting possible traces of drug residue, an officer wearing a sterile cotton glove would try to swab all the parts of a surface that a person might have touched, the BLRR said. The officer would then rub the glove’s fingertips on a metal testing screen, which is put into the trace detector.

The trace detector would be able to analyze the test sample, and print out results indicating what kinds of substances were present, said Martin and the BLRR agent.

Online product information from Autoclear LLC, the parent company of Scintex Trace, said the N2300 trace detector can detect small amounts of drugs like cocaine, opiates, cannabis and methamphetamine. An online demonstration video of the N2300 trace detector also showed a user swabbing a surface with a cloth glove before swiping their fingers on a metal testing screen.

Martin said in general, tests for drug residue can be used to help establish probable cause for law enforcement to search a residence or vehicle. She said law enforcement would need to get a search warrant to conduct the test, and then if probable cause was found, they would need to obtain a second warrant to conduct a search.

Martin said other forms of trace evidence in criminal investigations, like DNA, can have different collection methods.

“Every scene is different,” Martin said.

Martin said law enforcement officers try to follow best practices for collecting trace evidence, and submit it to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The BCA provides a range of different forensic testing services, from DNA analysis to drug chemistry.

The claims about Marshall Police made in the YouTube video posted earlier this month have not been independently verified. The resident of the apartment in the video, Dante Maurice Stidman, is currently facing charges of drug possession in Lyon County District Court. As of Friday, court documents filed in Stidman’s criminal case did not include claims that evidence was planted.