BELLE PLAINE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas law enforcement agencies seized more than $3.35 million in property during a six-month period last year, disproportionately from young black and Hispanic male drivers.
Counties reporting significant currency seizures are located along Interstate 70 or Interstate 35 and have officers assigned to look for drugs. The overwhelming amount of currency seized was uncontested in forfeiture actions.
Those are some of the first findings stemming from a Kansas law that took effect July 1 and requiring that law enforcement agencies report to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation all seizures of property and cash.
The 2019 Civil Asset Forfeiture Report, released in April, covers the period between July 1 and December 31.
Under civil forfeiture, law enforcement agencies can seize cash, cars and other valuables from those they suspect of illegal activity without charging or convicting anyone of a crime. Getting the property back usually involves expensive civil litigation. Law enforcement agencies use the proceeds from the seized property to fund operations, training, vehicles, and facilities, among other uses.
The law enforcement community says civil asset forfeiture is a tool for stopping crime by taking drugs and drug proceeds, as well as guns and other property used for criminal activity, off the streets. Critics say law enforcement has an incentive for taking property because the agencies can keep the proceeds.
“It’s beyond time for reform, and that is why we’ve supported legislative efforts to, at minimum, have non-contraband property returned upon acquittal or case dismissal, without the property owner having to engage in a burdensome and costly process to reclaim what is theirs,” said Nadine Johnson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, in an emailed statement.
“Once their property has been seized, these ordinary people must then navigate a civil legal system that is stacked against them.”
Statewide, the seizures included more than $2.7 million in currency and more than $590,000 in property. Ninety-one percent of currency forfeitures were uncontested.
A KBI analysis of race and ethnicity in the the incident reports shows that blacks, who make up 6% of the state’s population, were involved in 20% of the reported seizures. Hispanics, who make up 12% of the state’s population, accounted for 20% of seizures. More than 86% of Kansans are white, yet they account for 56% of seizures. About 81% of seizures involved males.
The Kansas Highway Patrol, one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the state, seized by far the most property — taking in $1.24 million alone during the six-month period, the report showed.
Capt. Andrew Dean said in an email that the patrol’s focus on highways puts troopers in a position to “not only identify localized criminal activities but also the transitory criminal element that are passing through destined for other states.”
The Junction City Police Department trailed far behind KHP in second place with $245,401 in seizures, followed by the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office with $217,210. Six other agencies reported seizures in excess of $100,000.
In 87% of the seizures, the case was forwarded to prosecutors for charges. About 74% of those charges related to the distribution or manufacturing of controlled substances, and 11% were for drug possession.
The KBI said 17 law enforcement agencies did not comply with the law’s reporting provision, despite repeated notices. Those agencies are prohibited from filing further forfeiture actions until they are back in compliance.
Agencies that did not comply with the reporting law are police departments in Baxter Springs, Chetopa, Conway Springs, Florence, Hoyt, Lewis, Meriden, Mount Hope, Osawatomie, Stafford, WaKeeney and Walton and sheriff’s offices in Clark, Elk, Hodgeman, Lincoln and Thomas counties, according to the report.