SEAL BEACH : City Joins Profitable Anti-Drug Program
An extra officer will be added to Seal Beach’s police force to allow the city to join a profitable narcotics suppression program without detracting from its current patrol force of 42 officers.
Cities participating in the Regional Narcotics Suppression Program, which began in 1986, have received an average of $250,000 a year in shared assets seized from drug dealers, Capt. Ken Garrett said.
He said only four of Orange County’s 23 police agencies are not participating in the program, which has been responsible for 136 arrests and the seizure of more than $57.7 million in cash and other assets.
The City Council approved the temporary addition of the new officer, who will receive $48,000 annually and will be assigned to the program. City Manager Robert Nelson said the Police Department will consider permanently funding the position at its mid-year budget review in June.
According to Garrett, within two years “this position will be fully financed by our share of assets seized from major narcotics traffickers.”
“This project is known on an international basis,” Nelson said. “The success of the team is proven. There is a chance of gaining funds (by participating). Let the drug dealers pay for our officers.”
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