News You Can Use | Public Servants

• Louis Cote of Mascouche, Quebec, Canada, became suspicious last August of the DNA test results obtained from the samples he collected in his work for the Confederation of Aboriginal People of Canada, whose members use DNA testing to determine their native ancestry.

So, CBC News reported on June 13, Cote launched his own experiment. He collected two samples using his own inner-cheek swabs, and a third from his girlfriend's Chihuahua, Snoopy, and sent them off to Viaguard Accu-Metrics.

The results indicated that all three samples had identical DNA, including 12 percent Abenaki and 8 percent Mohawk ancestry. "I thought it was a joke," Cote said. "The company is fooling people ... the tests are no good." [CBC News, 6/13/2018]

• In Putnam County, Florida, the sheriff's office provides a wide variety of services. So when Douglas Peter Kelly, 49, called the office on June 12 to complain that the methamphetamine he had been sold was fake, officers happily offered to test it for him.

Kelly told detectives he had suffered a "violent reaction" after smoking the substance and wanted to sue the dealer if he had been sold the wrong drug.

He arrived at the sheriff's office and "handed detectives a clear, crystal-like substance wrapped in aluminum foil," the office's Facebook post explained, according to The Washington Post.

It "field-tested positive for methamphetamine."

On the spot, Kelly was arrested and charged with possession of meth.

The Facebook post continued: "Remember, our detectives are always ready to assist anyone who believes they were misled in their illegal drug purchase." [Washington Post, 6/14/2018]