Irvine : Police Looking at Share of Assets Seized in Raids

In what could turn into a bonanza for Irvine police, the City Council Tuesday will consider creating a special fund to hold money generated by the sale of assets seized in narcotics investigations.

Recent changes in both California and federal law permit local police agencies that participate in drug-related arrests to receive a portion of the assets seized from traffickers.

While the amounts of money received vary depending on whether state or federal agencies are involved in the arrests, it does enable local police to recover some of the expense of enforcing drug laws, according to Sgt. Leo Jones of the Irvine Police Department’s narcotics squad.

Under state laws, drug traffickers must be convicted in a criminal court before civil action can be undertaken to strip them of cash, cars, contraband or other assets. Under federal law, a defendant’s inability to prove that the assets were gained legally is sufficient.

If the proposal is approved Tuesday, Irvine police could begin to get their share of assets from recent arrests in which Irvine police participated. Although Jones would not disclose how much has been seized, he said it was “substantial.”

The extra money could not be used for anything other than narcotics enforcement and the Police Department could not use the seized funds to replace normal funding for narcotics operations.

Many drug traders are willing to do time in prison, Jones said, but if they also lose their profits, they may quit the drug business entirely. “If we can take away the money, which is the big incentive . . . hopefully we can get more people out of the drug trade,” he said.