Cash seized in police busts may benefit Fremont officers

Oakland Tribune, Dec 5, 2005 by Ben Aguirre Jr., STAFF WRITER

FREMONT -- Money collected from prostitution stings and drug busts soon may make its way into police work.

The City Council is scheduled Tuesday to consider authorizing the police department to use almost $25,000 in seized cash to buy digital audio recorders and other updated technology for its police officers.

If approved, it will be the second straight year the council allows the department to use funds obtained during various raids and arrests.

Last year, the council let the department use almost $77,200 in evidence money -- which was collected from 1992 to 2000 -- toward upgrading a firearms training trailer and to replace various equipment, said Susan Aro, the police department's business manager.

And as of Oct. 3, there was another $24,716.17 that was eligible to be used by the department, she said. That money had been collected through a series of arrests between January 2001 and October 2002.

When cash is seized, it is placed into a "police evidence account," where it sits for at least three years or until it is claimed or used to repay victims of crimes, Detective Bill Veteran said.

"It's money that is collected during an investigation and is still there after the case has been adjudicated," he said.

Under the state Government Code, unclaimed money becomes the property of the police department three years after the seizure date, Veteran said. The department then has to post notices in the local newspaper for two consecutive weeks informing the public about the unclaimed money.

If Tuesday's agenda item is approved, the department plansto use the cash to help pay for 200 digital audio recorders and a new software system to replace the microcassette recorders officers currently used.

"They are kind of cumbersome," Aro said. "We have to duplicate (the tapes) and then store them. ... It's something we've been struggling with the last three years."

Every patrol officer carries a voice recorder to document some conversations and certain events. The tapes then are copied and stored as evidence, which may be used in court.

"That technology is way past its time," Aro said. The department has been using the same recorders for at least a decade.

Staff writer Ben Aguirre Jr. can be reached at (510) 353-7011.