News

Jun 03, 2023

Drug enforcement seizures add to Alpharetta police funding

Staff Reporter Every year Alpharetta gets money from the Department of Justice's asset forfeiture program. It helps pay for expenses like machinery, employee training and, in 2022, a special order of

Staff Reporter

Every year Alpharetta gets money from the Department of Justice's asset forfeiture program. It helps pay for expenses like machinery, employee training and, in 2022, a special order of Yeti cups.

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Every year, the Alpharetta Public Safety Department receives funding from the city for operational costs. But, some of the department’s expenses are also covered through local drug enforcement.

These funds are generated through the Equitable Sharing Program, an asset forfeiture program run by the U.S. Department of Justice that allows assets or proceeds from federal crimes to be liquidated. Assets that are seized from illegal drug activity are managed by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Once these assets are liquidated, Alpharetta Police Lt. Andrew Splawn said the funds can be used for anything besides salaries, benefits and recurring expenses. This can include weapon accessories, accommodations and supplies — even Yeti cups.

In 2022, the department used $102,525 in confiscated asset funding for a range of expenses, including equipment and machinery; employee training and travel; and general supplies and materials.

The Alpharetta Police Department displays customized Yeti cups for the 911 Center and Fire, Police and Public Safety departments July 27. The department said the cups, which were purchased in 2022 with confiscated asset funds, were given to all public safety employees as part of a recruitment and retention initiative.

For example, some $21,579 was used for firearms. Of the $15,425 used for supplies, the department purchased $13,953 in Yeti cups for all Public Safety employees, with the remainder funding miscellaneous items such as magnets, weapon lights and phone chargers.

But, before an asset can be converted into real dollars, it must undergo a process of oversight.

Splawn said two Alpharetta police detectives are assigned to DEA task forces. One is assigned to the high-density drug trafficking area, or HIDTA, task force, and the other is assigned to the financial investigation team, or FIT.

The HIDTA task force is responsible for drug enforcement, while the FIT task force investigates money laundering. FIT investigations are not always drug-related but oftentimes are, Splawn said.

“Throughout the course of their investigations, if there's any money or property that is either helping facilitate the illegal activity, or it's a proceed or benefit from the illegal activity, those funds are seized,” Splawn said.

The department also has a Special Investigations Unit, which focuses on narcotics, vice and human trafficking offenses. While this is not one of the DEA task forces, Splawn said assets seized by the unit are still counted in the department’s confiscated assets fund.

“There's no difference in how we spend the money, whether it comes federally or locally,” he said. “But once we have the money, it can be spent on things like training, equipment, initiatives. In fact, much of our second floor is paid for with asset forfeiture money. We got a SWAT bus and some other high-dollar items that are typically hard to budget for.”

Once an asset is seized, a judge determines if it had aided a crime or was the benefit of a crime. If the judge rules that it was not, the asset is returned to its owner. If it was, the Department of Justice uses a formula to determine how much an agency receives from the forfeiture.

“That's kind of the key thing that sometimes gets missed is that whenever assets are seized, assets or money is seized, whoever the property is taken from has a right to a hearing,” Splawn said.

Such assets can include land, homes and, most often, vehicles.

To liquidate the assets, the Alpharetta Police Department submits the funds to GovDeals, an online auction-based marketplace for governments and educational agencies. After the assets are awarded to the department, the rest of the process is conducted through the state, Splawn said.

He said to provide a layer of oversight and prevent abuse, all expenses covered by asset forfeiture must be approved by the chief of public safety.

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Reach Shelby Israel at 770-847-8079. Follow her on Twitter @shelbyisrael1.

Staff Reporter