When police arrest drug dealers in the Fox Valley area of Wisconsin, they do not only seize the drugs or money seized in drug bust. They also seize cash and any other valuable assets that are tied to the illegal trade of drugs.
Generally, the cash is either seized or frozen in the bank after the arrest. If there is a conviction, then the police department gets a piece of the seized cash and some of the money goes to the education fund for the state of Wisconsin.
For state level cases in Wisconsin, the split between the police department and the education fund is usually 70/30. For federal convictions, the seizure split normally is 80/20, according to the Appleton Police Department in Wisconsin.
Several Fox Valley police agencies work with a local drug enforcement group that works to stop drug crimes. This means that drug seizures often involve police officers from several areas and the money goes to this Metropolitan Enforcement Group. This means that seizures often do involve police officers from several jurisdictions and in that case the money does go to the MEG unit. If in the case of Outagamie County the sheriff’s department makes a bust, the county keeps all of that money.
The MEG unit seized $394,000 in 2012, and most of that money came from houses, cars and drug activity. The idea behind the law for forfeiture is that drug dealers do not only poison the community with the drug, they are living ‘the good life’ and are doing it on something illegal. They are not contributing to society and the intent of the law is to take the assets of people who are living well by doing illegal things.
Each year, the seizures in this part of the state of Wisconsin account for about 45% of the drug unit’s budget each year. The money funds things that include paying for overtime, buying equipment and also paying for the canine program. It can take years for the amounts to be figured out from each bust and for the money to be distributed to various departments inside the local police agency.
In 2012, the MEG received $325,000 from the funds that were seized. In some years, the unit will actually receive more in forfeitures than it actually seized that year. This is because of delays in the court process in most cases.
Also, in 2012, the Appleton Police Department seized $6300. The money in that case went to an account that is set up for crime-fighting and is used to buy equipment and training. Also, the Appleton Police Department seized about $9000 in 2011.
In an unrelated cash seizure, the police in Canada arrested a person in Alberta the same week on the highway there. They found $300,000 in cash in the car. The police stated that the officer was on patrol in the province on Queen Elizabeth Highway, and they stopped the car for a traffic violation. The car was then searched under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act in Canada. Just as in the US, the driver was put under arrest and the cash was seized and put into a fund set up by the government for disbursement at a later time.