Addicted to drug money: DA, cops hoard dealer dough for salaries and consultants
This article in the Boston Herald shows the gross misspending of seized drug money by police. According to the law, monies seized in the war on drugs are used to fund the war on drugs, but some police seem to take a liberal view of this charge. Instead of using the money for drug treatment, most of the cash seized in Boston went to paying prosecuting attorneys and helping to ensure that those caught with drugs serve out the maximum sentences allowable. The rest was spent on frivolities.
The BPD spent the bulk of its drug forfeiture money on a contract with Ron Smith & Associates, which has been paid more than $250,000 to clear a backlog of unprocessed fingerprint evidence. The cost includes hotels, airfare and food for experts who have flown in from Mississippi. Other expenditures included nearly $10,000 on crime scene cones and $34,000 on 33 digital cameras.
Only $7,000 was allotted to the Gavin Foundation’s Cushing House, a residential treatment center for teen boys.
Conley’s chief of staff John Towle defended the salaries as a legitimate use of drug forfeiture funds, saying: “Under the law it’s allowable.”