was worth shouldering the extra costs that the California DOJ used to pay. The state provided a commanding officer and office space, which together are costing the task force roughly $120,000 to $140,000 annually to replace. “We could have just let this thing dissolve and go away, but we recognize its importance,” said Downey. “This has been such a successful task force.” Because the task force is equipped to do the surveillance and research required during investigations into large-scale drug manufacturing and cultivation, Gallegos said, it is the most effective tool for fighting Humboldt County’s biggest problem. The sheriff’s office will be taking the lead on the unit, and will supply the new task force commander. The executive board is still working on a new memorandum of understanding to outline the task forces goals and responsibilities, but Downey said that he hopes to see no changes in how the task force is run. As far as he knows, the rules on what the money can be spent on will remain the same, he said. He and others dismiss any suggestion that this is this policing for profit, or that the new boots and hotel rooms have anything to do with the task force’s stunning success at seizing suspected criminals’ money.
Yet asset forfeiture’s more ardent opponents see the practice as little more than thinly-veiled robbery by the police. The pure volume of money involved in civil forfeitures means that some crookedness is inevitable, said Brenda Grantland, a lawyer affiliated with FEAR.org, an anti-forfeiture organization. There is a place for forfeiture, Grantland said, but it should be criminal forfeiture, where prosecutors must get a criminal conviction in order to keep the money. “If someone has made millions of dollars doing something illegal, that money should be confiscated, I agree with that,” she said. The problem with civil forfeiture, she said, is that it gives law enforcement motivation to go after people solely for their money. Any victims of the property owner should get the first cut, she said, but that it rarely happens. “It’s become a very corrupt thing,” Grantland said. In Humboldt County, defense attorney Schwartz said, “I’m sure there’s a big sigh, when they go on a big bust and find no money. I’m sure they’re not thrilled about it.” He doesn’t, however, think that seizing funds is a major motivator behind drug busts. Gallegos said that when he can, he uses the seized money to benefit the community. His office recently spent money from
its seizures account to buy new video cameras for Eureka police patrol cars. Still, he said that he recognizes that there is always some danger in allowing law enforcement to spend the same money that it seizes. “I understand the corrupting power of money,” he said. “You try to be responsible. We don’t want to get in the position where they’re drug dealers, but we’re thieves.”
Sgt. Hanson wasn’t at the bust
in Hydesville last fall, but he could picture it. There would have been a lot of cops. “We always flood the area with as many officers as possible,” he said. “Overwhelming force.” It would have been in the early morning, he said, when people are usually still sleeping, groggy, disoriented. It would have been loud, with officers yelling at the people in the rooms, pointing guns at them, telling them to get down on the ground and put their hands on their heads or behind their backs. The scene doesn’t hold any thrills for him. Clad in body armor, gun drawn, standing outside the suspect’s door — he’s been there countless times. “Let me put it this way,” he said, with the barest hint of a smile. He held up his wrist. “If my heartbeat right now is at 60, it would be 60 there.” The swarm of officers, yelling and waving their guns but internally calm, arrested property owner Stanislaw Kopiej and three others at the scene. During their search of the property they found 400 pounds of dried marijuana, 400 growing marijuana plants, and six guns. Inside the chicken coop they discovered a white, square plastic bucket. Maybe their hearts thrilled, just a little, when they opened it. Cash. Stacks of $20s. The drug task force counted the money — $175,000 — and seized it. This fall the California Narcotic Officers’ Association’s 48th annual training conference will be held at the Anaheim Hilton. Officers will choose six four-hour workshops, and there will be special events in the evenings. This year, though, there will be no entertainment on the third night. Organizers are encouraging attendees to use that night to explore the area, to walk the palm-lined boulevards with their families, and watch the fireworks over Disneyland. l
(707) 444-3318 2120 4TH STREET • EUREKA MONDAY-SATURDAY 11:30AM-9:00PM
whites boots product photo
A pair of White’s, just like the ones officers bought last spring with money from seizures. These $400 boots are custom-fitted and stitched by hand. Interim task force commander Sgt. Wayne Hanson said that the boots are safety equipment, to protect agents’ feet on the rocky Humboldt hills.
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northcoastjournal.com • North Coast Journal • Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012
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