NCJ Number
191408
Journal
Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies and Management Volume: 24 Issue: 3 Dated: 2001 Pages: 310-329
Date Published
2001
Length
20 pages
Annotation
A survey of 45 members of three drug law enforcement task forces in the Miami, Florida, area focused on the goals and usefulness of asset forfeiture.
Abstract
The research resulted from recognition that asset forfeiture has become an important tool in drug interdiction and that forfeiture provides substantial funds to police agencies and can produce goal displacement toward asset hunting rather than reducing illegal drug trafficking. The participants included members of a unit of local, State, and Federal agents assigned to the Southeast Florida Regional Task Force; a unit of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents assigned to an FBI squad; and a unit of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents assigned to a DEA group. Participants completed a four-page questionnaire. Results revealed that all participants endorsed the goals relating to the punishment of drug dealers as most important. Federal officers not assigned to joint task forces valued economic benefits to the agency less than did Federal agents assigned to join task forces, who, in turn, valued economic benefits less than did non-federal task force agents. The analysis concluded that forfeiture functions differently for the three groups of participants in the study. 24 references (Author abstract modified)