Forfeiture money, where does it go?

[A_Britishcolumbian]

i have been curious for quite a while to know where this forfeiture money goes.

this article tells us how some of it gets distributed, and spent.

How B.C. cops spend forfeited cash
By Michael Mui, 24 Hours Vancouver
Tuesday, December 9, 2014 3:23:47 PST PM

B.C. government regularly doles out millions in civil forfeiture grants from goods and money taken from bad guys, with a good slice of the money going to police forces to update equipment and training.

According to the government’s numbers, $5.2 million of the $11.1 million in civil forfeiture recoveries went to grants in 2013/14.

Much of the dollars went to address recommendations from the Missing Women’s Commission of Inquiry. Two other chunks went to programs to address violence against women, and to youth crime prevention.

Police forces received nearly $500,000 to equip and train officers across the province, and the gang task force’s Sgt. Lindsey Houghton says the dollars got his branch equipment it otherwise couldn’t afford.

Over the past year, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C., which oversees gang investigations, received a new vehicle formerly owned by a gang, $30,000 in funding to support an anti-gang educational campaign, and eight sets of Canon imaged-stabilized binoculars for surveillance work.

“Without the civil forfeiture money, the money to support the campaign would’ve come out of CFSEU B.C.’s operations budget — which would make an impact on our ability to conduct investigations and other work,” Houghton said on Tuesday.

“Existing equipment is sometimes years old and technology advances very quickly ... it’s not uncommon for us in government and policing to be using equipment that’s sometimes many years old. We need to update. We’re fortunate, in that case, $3,500 got us exactly what we needed.”

A new all-terrain vehicle for Campbell River RCMP, infra-red units to investigate marijuana grow-ops for Delta police, automatic licence plate readers for several interior RCMP detachments, software to access an external police database for New Westminster police, and more, made up the list.

http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2014/12/09/ho ... eited-cash

[FreeRights]

I like the concept. Proceeds of crime get disbursed between crime reduction programs, and right back to those targeting the exact people the money came from? Sounds foolproof to me.

[JLives]

I like the concept. Proceeds of crime get disbursed between crime reduction programs, and right back to those targeting the exact people the money came from? Sounds foolproof to me.

Sounds like a recipe for corruption to me.

I know this is the US but it is very informative and entertaining.

[steven lloyd]

Sounds like a recipe for corruption to me.

That possibility definitely exists jenny, but it doesn't necessarily take this type of program for corrupt politicians to find a way to steal or misuse our money. On the other hand, I am personally aware of some funding dollars from this program that has gone to much needed cause - such as victim assistance and victim of abuse programs.

[Gixxer]

Hasnt there already been some cases of law enforcement abusing civil forfeit and proceeds of crime?

[FreeRights]

Hasnt there already been some cases of law enforcement abusing civil forfeit and proceeds of crime?

Has there in BC? I haven't seen any reports to suggest as much. BC is apparently reporting where the funds go.

[A_Britishcolumbian]

giving forfeiture money to police is corrupt, it perpetuates a systemic inadequacy and punishes the most vulnerable of our society.

Criminal activity imposes extremely large costs to society. In 2008, Canada spent over $15 billion
on policing and the criminal judicial system. Victims’ services and other direct costs, such as
medical costs, lost wages and stolen/damaged property amounted to over $16 billion, while
intangible costs, such as pain and suffering and loss of life are estimated at $68 billion.40 In addition,
people who are convicted and incarcerated lose their income from employment, often lose
custody of their children (a concern for young women in poverty, in particular) and face reduced
future labour market opportunities as a result of having a criminal record.

Poverty has frequently been linked to crime, as people living in poverty are vastly overrepresented
in Canada’s prison population and they are also more likely to be victimized by crime. While the
exact mechanisms that connect poverty and criminal activity are complex, and it is important
not to overstate the connections, there is compelling evidence that reducing poverty and providing
supports and resources to lower income individuals and families with children to tackle life
problems can significantly reduce crime.

To be clear, most poor people do not engage in criminal activity. Nevertheless, there are realities
to living in poverty –– both with respect to material deprivation and social exclusion –– that mean
that, statistically speaking, poverty can be correlated with increases in certain criminal activity
(although arguably, society pays as much or more for other forms of criminal activity more likely
to be perpetrated by higher-income white-collar criminals).

We know that adolescent boys and young men are more likely to commit crimes than any other
demographic group, and living in poverty or in a low-income community are two of the commonly
identified risk factors for a person’s involvement in crime. There are several reasons for this.
Extreme poverty and financial stress can directly lead to crimes of desperation and to criminalized
activity such as drug use and prostitution. For example, in the CCPA’s Living on Welfare in BC
report, the authors found that some people who could not make ends meet on income assistance
(either because of inadequate benefit rates and/or restrictions on eligibility for assistance) “feel compelled to resort to panhandling, survival sex, or various other illegal activities.”41 Researchers
observed that welfare recipients who were able to find employment and get out of poverty did
not seem to engage in these illegal activities, which suggests that addressing deep poverty will
likely have an impact on crime.

There is also the connection between poverty and social exclusion or depression, which in turn is
closely linked to addiction and its associated criminalized activities.

http://www.mgywfnj.policyalternatives.o ... report.pdf

forfeiture money should go to provide affordable and subsidized housing, addiction treatment and feeding children.

[Smurf]

The needy and the police are both good places for the money as are victims. However in the long run money received by government is basically all one big melting pot and it all comes from that pot in the end. If we gave it all to the needy or whom ever the other groups just get their money from money that would have gone to the needy. It all has to come from somewhere.

[Bsuds]

punishes the most vulnerable of our society. What? Criminals are vulnerable now?



forfeiture money should go to provide affordable and subsidized housing, addiction treatment and feeding children.I can agree with that.

[Hassel99]

giving forfeiture money to police is corrupt, it perpetuates a systemic inadequacy and punishes the most vulnerable of our society.

The most vulnerable criminals?

I am ok with that.

[Rwede]

The needy and the police are both good places for the money as are victims. However in the long run money received by government is basically all one big melting pot and it all comes from that pot in the end. If we gave it all to the needy or whom ever the other groups just get their money from money that would have gone to the needy. It all has to come from somewhere.

Agreed.

I know the OP just wants to bash cops again, so anyone else posting is likely wasting bandwidth with any good ideas for directing forfeiture money.

[the truth]

yup 10/10

[Tacklewasher]

The issue is that the crown is too aggressive at going after these funds. Funds received after conviction is one thing, but some of the funds claimed are in cases where the crime has not been proven.

In this case, charges were never laid but the Civil Forfeiture Office went after money anyway.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/bri ... e19476652/

Here a truck was seized despite no charges being laid.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/bri ... e21529569/

Lots of other examples with Google.

It's not the Police in these cases, but there is a problem.

[FreeRights]

The issue is that the crown is too aggressive at going after these funds. Funds received after conviction is one thing, but some of the funds claimed are in cases where the crime has not been proven.

In this case, charges were never laid but the Civil Forfeiture Office went after money anyway.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/bri ... e19476652/

Here a truck was seized despite no charges being laid.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/bri ... e21529569/

Lots of other examples with Google.

It's not the Police in these cases, but there is a problem.

It's extremely easy to have your assets returned to you in all of these cases, unless your financial activity represents proceeds of crime or money laundering

Those who don't get their assets returned often don't even try. They know that they are in no position to claim it's clean.

[just popping in]

Money would probably go into government general revenue affecting deficit making things look rosey. I believe MSP payments are put in general revenue and doled out from there.