JUDGE CASTS DOUBT ON POLICE FORFEITURE PROGRAM

BRADENTON -- For years, this city's police department has quietly
seized reputed drug money through a program that bypasses the courts
and funnels thousands of dollars into department coffers.

But Bradenton leaders may now have to rethink their Contraband
Forfeiture Agreements -- which allow people to sign away their cash
and property -- after a judge rebuked the policy on Monday, calling
it a dubious program that violates "the bedrock principle ... of
checks and balances."

Circuit Judge Peter Dubensky also said the police department must
follow state law -- used in forfeiture cases by other agencies around
Florida -- or return $10,000 to an Orlando man who contested the seizure.

While Dubensky cast doubt on the constitutionality of the issue, he
did not offer a blanket ruling that outlaws Bradenton's program.

In fact, he focused solely on the case of Delane Johnson, who was
arrested last year and charged with an obscure financial crime after
police found a wad of cash in his pocket.

The criminal charge was later dropped, but police held Johnson in a
booking room and he eventually signed a Contraband Forfeiture
Agreement giving the money to police.

Dubensky imagined a system where the police could stop any citizen
"for any reason and request forfeiture of any item of property" as
long as they signed the document.

"It is not remotely conceivable that the citizenry would countenance
such a state of affairs," he wrote.

Although the decision does not force Bradenton to discontinue its
program, legal experts have said the Johnson case could set a
statewide precedent.

Bradenton attorney Varinia Van Ness said she plans to file another
motion asking the judge to reconsider making "a blanket ruling so
this doesn't happen to other people."

Officials revised the document late last year, giving people more
time to contest the forfeiture.

Police Chief Michael Radzilowski is vacationing in the Caribbean this
week and Mayor Wayne Poston did not return multiple phone calls. Maj.
William Tokajer, who oversees the forfeiture program, said he had not
seen the decision and declined comment.

Maj. William Tokajer, who oversees the forfeiture program, did not
return phone calls on Monday.

It is not immediately clear whether the department was still using
the Contraband Forfeiture Agreements as of Monday.

"It sets a precedent, but people have to know about that precedent in
order to challenge their cases," Van Ness of Dubensky's ruling. "But
that costs money, and it takes time."

The money is held in a special account and generally used for
weapons, gear and police programs. Bradenton has also used the money
to fund midnight basketball programs and a summer camp run by a city
councilman.

At least three other agencies in Florida use forfeiture agreements,
although the documents and the instances in which they are used vary widely.