DRUG MONEY INVESTIGATION TO BE STARTED

Missouri has begun an audit of the way police departments deal with
seized property, State Auditor Claire McCaskill announced Wednesday.

Police have been diverting from public schools millions of dollars
seized in drug cases. State law requires such money seized by police
to go through a state court, which usually designates the money to be
used for educational purposes.

But The Kansas City Star reported that police often give the money to
a federal agency such as the Drug Enforcement Administration, which
keeps some and returns the rest to police.

Independence Police Chief Gary George said he is not concerned about
an audit of his department's actions.

"We're very confidant in where we're at with our forfeiture assets,"
George said. "We have nothing to hide. I think we can justify
everything we've done. In 1997, we would have had over a million
dollars in cleanup costs for methamphetamine labs, if those cases
would not have gone to the federal level."

George also said prosecutors, not officials in his department, decide
if cases go to the state or federal level.

An audit of the Kansas City Police Department was requested by Police
Chief Floyd Bartch following criticism of his department's handling of
forfeited drug money intended under state law to be used for schools.
McCaskill said Wednesday that her audit will focus on the Kansas City
department's disposition of all seized property, abandoned property
and any other property that comes into its possession.

"But more importantly, we want to take a statewide look at this
issue," McCaskill said.

McCaskill, the Jackson County prosecutor before taking office as
auditor last month, said her office will seek information from all 114
Missouri counties, all elected prosecutors and the police chiefs in
the state's 60 largest communities. They will be asked how they deal
with all types of property that come into government possession --
seized, forfeited, abandoned and unclaimed.

Some of those jurisdictions will be selected for an in-depth
examination by the auditor's office, McCaskill said. She said they
will include a cross-section of smaller, mid-size and larger
communities, in addition to Kansas City.

McCaskill said her review would include whether law enforcement
agencies have been filing with her office a required annual report on
property they receive as a result of getting federal money back from
forfeiture. And prosecutors must give the Department of Public Safety
an annual summary of all forfeiture activity of their offices.

"If we could get both of those reports filed on an annual basis, it
would be much easier to try to pinpoint jurisdictions that might be
trying to go around the law," McCaskill said. "I have recommended that
changes be made quickly that would cut off funding to law enforcement
agencies and prosecutor's offices that did not get their reports on
file."

McCaskill also said her study would give lawmakers information they
can use in making broader policy decisions related to the seized
property issue.

"It's very important to remember that it's not just the issue of when
are local authorities calling in the federal authorities, and are they
calling them for the purpose of just having them seize property, or
are they calling for cooperation on a joint investigation," she said.

She said there is also a question as to whether all drug forfeiture
money should go to schools, or whether law enforcement agencies also
should get a share.

Lawmakers also need to look at statutory definitions of how property
is classified, McCaskill said.

"When police officers burst into a drug house and there's $10,000 cash
on the table, and surprise, surprise, everyone in the house says 'It's
not mine,' what is it?" she said.

She said that under present laws the disposition of property coming
into government possession varies depending on whether it's considered
to be unclaimed, abandoned or seized.

McCaskill said she hoped her office would have its work completed this
summer.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Brian May (D-St. Louis), who joined
McCaskill at the news conference, said the forfeiture issue is of
great interest statewide. But he said that lawmakers need to "see
exactly how much money we're dealing with" before they handle some of
the policy aspects McCaskill referred to.