Laserfiche WebLink
<br />1 MEMORANDUM Attachment 2 <br />2 <br />3 <br />4 DATE: February 26, 2024 <br />5 <br />6 TO: City Manager Patrick Trudgeon <br />7 <br />8 FROM: Chief of Police Erika Scheider <br />9 <br />10 SUBJECT: Summary information on Police Forfeiture funds <br />11 <br />12 In August of 2011, Council requested an annual document summarizing forfeiture account activities. <br />13 The accompanying memorandum, which describes the Police Department’s forfeiture accounts, serves <br />14 as foundation. <br />15 <br />16 The Police Department forfeiture accounts are labeled as: Federal Equitable Sharing- Narcotics, <br />17 Narcotics Forfeiture, and Alcohol Forfeiture. <br />18 <br />19 The Federal Equitable Sharing- Narcotics account holds funds forfeited for federal controlled <br />20 substance violations. As of July, 2018, per new federal guidelines, equitable sharing funds are no <br />21 longer dispersed to local agencies as funds are used to support task force (Ramsey County Violent <br />22 Crime Enforcement Team) operations. <br />23 <br />24 The Narcotics Forfeiture account holds funds forfeited for controlled substance offenses and other <br />25 “designated offenses”, as defined in Minnesota statutes. In 2020, the Department completed a <br />26 comprehensive policy and procedure manual revision. Per policy, beginning in 2021, the Department <br />27 no longer pursues cash forfeitures under $2,000 due to the unintended impacts on low-income <br />28 communities. <br />29 <br />30 The Alcohol Forfeiture account holds only funds forfeited for DWI related offenses. In 2018, the <br />31 Department altered its operating procedures on forfeiting vehicles. The Department will only forfeit <br />32 vehicles driven in felony DWI offenses and those vehicles must have a value of at least $5,000. <br />33 <br />34 This change was made for the following reasons: <br />35 Forfeiting a vehicle can have unintended and disparate impacts on families based on income <br />36 levels. <br />37 Over the past three years, the Department lost over $25,000 forfeiting vehicles due to expenses <br />38 and the low return rate at auction, etc. <br />39 Access to secure storage parking lots is expensive. <br />40 Ramsey County judges are increasingly ruling in favor of innocent owner claims. <br />41 Ramsey County judges are returning vehicles to arrested parties and the Department is <br />42 mandated to pay storage costs. <br />43 <br />44 <br />45 <br />46 <br />47 <br />48 <br />Qbhf!289!pg!342 <br /> <br />