Spending seized assets - Washington Post
By Alberto Cuadra, Ted Mellnik and Shelly Tan, Published: October 11, 2014
Since 2008, about 5,400 police agencies have spent $2.5 billion in proceeds from cash and property seized under federal civil forfeiture laws. Police suspected the assets were linked to crime, although in 81 percent of cases no one was indicted.
How much is being spent in your state?
Read about our methodology here
Amount spent by all agencies (in millions)
Click on a state or use the search box below to see how agencies reported their spending
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Federal guidelines call for the money to go for law enforcement. In documents obtained by The Washington Post through a Freedom of Information Act request, police agencies reported their spending in broad categories. Their reports include few details on specific purchases, and local officials decide how to categorize their spending. They most often choose the category "Other."
$1,013,021,564
Communications and computers
$436,160,095
Building and improvements
$261,734,502
Salaries and overtime
$215,768,183
$177,298,543
Electronic surveillance
$127,126,776
Travel and training
$116,743,250
Information and rewards
$102,358,231
Community-based programs
$20,346,040
Federal civil forfeiture money has been spent on investigative expenses like drug buys, informants and overtime, as well as equipment, training, awards, memorials and community programs like drug abuse treatment. These examples are taken from documents and interviews.
BearCat armored personnel carrier
Douglasville Police Department, Ga.
$227,390
27 M-4 assault rifles
Braselton Police Department, Ga.
$54,000
Helicopter
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Ca.
$4.97 million
Command Bus
Prince George's County Police Department, Md.
$1.2 million
Challenge coins
Brunswick County Sheriff, NC
$5,310
Coffeemaker
Randall County Sheriff, Texas
$637
Sparkles the Clown
community relations program
Reminderville Police Department, Ohio
$225
High Times magazine subscription
Metrich Enforcement Unit, Ohio
$30
Methodology: Spending figures were compiled from annual reports submitted since 2008 by local and state police agencies to the U.S. Justice Department’s Equitable Sharing Program. The program allows the agencies to keep and spend up to 80 percent of assets seized in civil forfeitures. Agencies self-report their spending in the broad categories shown on this page.
SOURCE: A Washington Post analysis of Department of Justice data.
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