U.S. Slow to Give Assets From Drug Arrests to Police

The federal government is sitting on millions of dollars seized from drug dealers and intended for police departments under a high-profile program to help crack down on narcotics trafficking, officials say.

Police departments around the nation, expecting to receive cash, cars and airplanes seized in drug raids, have been waiting in some cases for more than two years while the U.S. Department of Justice processes their claims.

The delay in distributing the funds is frustrating many local police officials eager to expand anti-drug operations and appears to conflict with the Reagan Administration’s stepped-up campaign against drugs.

The Justice Department, acknowledging that it has been inefficient in processing the claims, blames a flood of applications and a shortage of staff to handle them, and promises that corrective action is being taken.

“We’re being embarrassed by our own success,” said Alwin C. Coward, who is in charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s asset forfeiture program.

Nevertheless, the delays have undercut the ambitious federal program launched in 1984 to foster cooperation among law enforcement agencies and to channel more funds into the nationwide effort to combat illicit drug sales.

“It is hampering my pre-planning of enforcement, not having this money in the city’s coffers,” said Cmdr. Glenn Levant, head of the Los Angeles Police Department’s bureau of special investigations. “It’s sorely needed for law enforcement purposes.”

Van de Kamp Complaint

In a letter to U.S. Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III in December, California Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp offered personally to provide staff to process claims and complained that the program was “at ground zero.”

” . . . This program should not be allowed to deteriorate because of bureaucracy,” he wrote.

The Los Angeles Police Department, one of the most active in seeking funds through the program, is waiting for the release of more than $20 million--some from claims dating back to 1984.

Overall, the Justice Department estimates, it has a backlog of 9,500 applications from state and local law enforcement agencies and says it cannot guess how much money they represent.

“If we knew the value of the backlog, it would mean someone would have gone through and worked the cases,” said Brad Cates, director of the Justice Department’s asset forfeiture office.

$25 Million Paid

In the year ending last October, the first full fiscal year of the program, federal authorities did manage to pay out $25 million to police, officials said.

Under a 1984 law establishing the program, local police departments can receive up to 90% of the money or property they helped seize in narcotics raids involving federal investigation or prosecution. Local governments can only spend the money to expand law enforcement efforts--not to replace other funding.

In cases in which the amount of the assets seized is less than $100,000, the federal agency involved, usually the Drug Enforcement Administration, is allowed to decide how much to return to local authorities and how much the federal government can keep. If the amount exceeds $100,000, the matter must go to court, adding to potential delays.

Some cases can also be complicated by conflicting claims of property ownership by mortgage holders or individuals who were not arrested, again adding to the time the process can take. Of 470 applications requiring a court decision, only 70 have been resolved, Cates said.

Built-In Problem

Cates said the delay problem was built into the program at the outset when Congress did not authorize funds for the Justice Department to handle the claims for the first 10 months. Over the last year, only two or three DEA staff members were assigned to process claims.

Meanwhile, the department has been swamped by applications--more than a third of them from California, where awareness of the program is great and drug raids more frequent than in some other jurisdictions.

Since receiving complaints, the Justice Department said, it has formed a task force to accelerate handling of the cases and has begun putting all the claims on a computer to track them more efficiently.

But impatience and aggravation have been growing among police chiefs and city councils that envision spending millions of dollars on sophisticated equipment and additional officers.

San Diego Receipts

Some police departments already have received money, automobiles and, in the case of San Diego, an airplane and Bell Ranger helicopter through the program. But much more is owed.

“We’ve gotten some money but it’s just too slow in coming,” said San Diego Police Chief Bill Kolender, who awaits about $1.5 million, 19 cars and a second jet helicopter. “The bureaucracy, the red tape in getting the money released, is just too slow.”

Other cities, including West Covina, have advanced their own funds for law enforcement expansion only to find that the federal reimbursement they expected has not been forthcoming.

“Apparently, the pipeline this money flows out of has been stopped up,” said West Covina Police Chief Craig Meacham, who said his city is waiting for up to $3 million--equal to nearly a third of his department’s entire budget.

Other Complaints

The slow distribution of the money has prompted Sen. Pete Wilson (R-Calif.), Van de Kamp, Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates and other police officials to complain privately to the Justice Department.

During a meeting Tuesday in Los Angeles, Gates raised the issue with Meese and secured a commitment from the attorney general to try to expedite release of the money.

“He (Meese) indicated he is now aware of this slow process and he is going to look into it and do everything he can to speed it up,” said Cmdr. William Booth, a Los Angeles police spokesman.

A spokesman for Wilson said the senator also had received complaints from police officials and was pushing the Department of Justice to release the funds.

Los Angeles has received about $2 million under the program so far, Levant said. But its claims pending with the Justice Department would bring the city between $20 million and $30 million more, depending on the size of the share awarded to Los Angeles.

Other cities affected by the delays include Burbank, which awaits the release of more than $2 million, and Glendale, which is waiting for more than $1 million. Burbank has so far received $145,000 and Glendale has received more than $200,000.

“The feds were swamped and just weren’t prepared for it,” said Burbank Police Capt. William Smith. “We’re looking at about a two-year delay from the point of seizure to the time of getting it back. In government, you learn to operate within that kind of time frame.”