KC POLICE ALREADY IMPLEMENTING NEW POLICY ON SEIZED DRUG MONEY

Kansas City police officials said Tuesday that they had already begun
implementing a policy that changes the way the department handles seized
drug money.

Police officials said they met with federal officials Friday to talk about
the new policy, which requires police to follow state law when disposing of
seized drug money.

The meeting included representatives from the U.S. attorney's office, U.S.
marshal's office and four federal law enforcement agencies, including the
Drug Enforcement Administration.

Chief Rick Easley and Dale Close, the department's attorney, said the
federal agencies raised concerns but agreed to honor the policy, which the
Board of Police Commissioners adopted Thursday.

"There wasn't any open resistance to this," Easley told the police board
Tuesday.

Last month, The Kansas City Star published a series of reports that
detailed how police in Missouri and across the country avoid state law with
the help of federal agencies to keep millions of dollars in drug money they
seize.

Missouri law generally sends seized money to public education, and many
other states, fearing a conflict of interest, make an effort to prevent the
money from going directly back to police.

But police evade such laws by handing off seizures to federal agencies,
which then forfeit the property, keep a portion and return the rest to the
police.

The police board's new resolution states that the board "strives to fully
comply with both the letter and spirit of all Missouri law."

Like state law, the resolution requires the Police Department to report
seizures to a state prosecutor even if the seizing officer is deputized by
a federal agency or working for a multijurisdictional task force.

That means the department can no longer turn drug money over to a federal
law enforcement agency until a circuit judge approves the transfer.

"If a Kansas City police officer is working by himself or herself or with a
task force and they seize property, it is going to go to the circuit court
of that county," Close said.

Joe Mulvihill, the board member who proposed the resolution, said he saw no
problem with a federal agency asking the state court for the property.

"It's very clear whenever the federal government wants the asset they can
go to state court and ask for it," Mulvihill said.

But Karl Zobrist, another board member, raised concerns when he heard that
federal agencies might not let Kansas City police work on task forces
unless police permitted a federal agent to always seize the property.

"That would be unforgivable," Zobrist said.

Close said those in the meeting determined that officials would have to
"work out the operational aspects (of the policy) on a case-by-case basis."

A DEA spokesman said the official who attended the meeting was not
available for comment. Jeff Lanza, FBI spokesman, said his agency had no
comment.

Because U.S. Attorney Stephen L. Hill Jr. was not in the office Tuesday, no
one could comment, a spokesman said.

Close said that his office was working on guidelines to the new policy and
that they would be available in a few days. Easley said that training
sessions for officers would also be implemented to help them understand the
procedures.

State Sen. Harry Wiggins, a Kansas City Democrat, has called on other large
police agencies to follow the lead of Kansas City police.

Wiggins sent a letter last week to the Missouri Highway Patrol, the St.
Louis Metropolitan Board of Police Commissioners and the St. Louis County
Police.

He also said he was looking for funding such as a small sales tax to
replace the seized drug funds that no longer go directly back to police.

"The Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners has set the standard for all
law enforcement agencies in Missouri to follow," Wiggins wrote.

Superintendent Weldon Wilhoit said the Highway Patrol would not adopt such
a broad policy at this time.

"The law right now is a little bit ambiguous between state and federal,"
Wilhoit said. "We will look at (all legislation), and whatever is the best
for the state of Missouri is what we are going to support."

Officials from the St. Louis police departments could not be reached for
comment.