Muskegon Chronicle, Monday, November 25, 1996 2B



Police acting under a tough anti-drug law seized nearly $50,000 from
89 people over an 18-month period, but none possessed drugs at the
time, a newspaper reported Sunday.

Kent County's chief judge is among the critics who say Grand Rapids
officers might be violating constitutional rights when they take money
from people who simply have bad reputations or stand in neighborhoods
notorious for drug trafficking.

Police Chief William Hegarty defends the seizures by saying Michigan
Law doesn't require officers to actually find drugs before taking
money.

The law states that property, such as money, cars or pagers, can be
confiscatedas long as police can prove a "substantial connection"
between the assets and illegal drugs.

After looking at police reports from January 1995 through June 1996
and interviewing suspects, the Grand Rapids Press said that connection
is not always made.

Antoine Patterson was stopped by police for walking in a street.
Officers found $510 in his coat pocket. When Patterson, 22, couldn't
explain where he got it, they kept it.

"I feel like I got robbed," he said. "Robbers with badges."

Attorneys who fight the seizures acknowledge the victims aren't always
role models. Months later, Patterson as arrested in a car with 22
rocks of crack cocaine, the Press said.

Still, people have rights, attorneys say.

The seizure law is "meant to intimidate them, harass them, show them
who's got the power," attorney Anthony Greene said. "It's a strong
statement: We can stop you at any time, shake you down and take your
money."

"We do not seize money from the predators in these neighborhoods
without … probable cause to believe the money is dirty, that it's part
of drug activity," the police chief told the Press.

In July 1995, chief Circuit Judge Dennis Kolenda ordered police to
return $352 to Ronald Divers, who said the money came from his mother.

Divers, now 19, did not possess drugs at the time, although he had
been arrested months earlier and eventually pleaded guilty to
possession with intent to deliver.

"There's a real pressure on (police) to act on suspicions, to play
those hunches," the judge said. "But if the hunches don't materialize,
you just have to swallow hard and say, 'I'm really disappointed.' … You
don't take the money if you can't prove it."

Officers issue a receipt when they seize property. The owner can file
a protest in court. Otherwise, money becomes part of the police drug
fund.

In more than half the seizures contested from January 1995 through
June 1996, Grand Rapids police agreed to return at least some money,
the Press reported.

The police chief said it's possible, but rare, that his officers are
too aggressive.

"If in the midst of hundreds of cases of asset seizures … if somebody
reviewing the work of this department found fault with a handful, I
still believe that is a very good record," Hegarty said.