Confiscated drug money pays for new Fall River police cruiser
FALL RIVER, Mass. (WPRI) — The Fall River Police Department has a brand new ride and it didn’t cost taxpayers a dime.
According to the Bristol County District Attorney’s office, it was purchased as a gift for the department using money confiscated by officers from drug-related crimes.
The cruiser will be assigned to the downtown district, where the Bristol County Courthouse is located.
District Attorney Thomas Quinn said the cruiser cost about $38,000. On Thursday, he handed a check for that amount to Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia and Police Chief Daniel Racine
Racine said the department currently has 140 vehicles but only 25 cruisers are like the new vehicle. He said the vehicles are on the road 24-hours a day, seven days a week – and usually only last about two or three years at most.
“You really couldn’t have a better use of drug forfeiture money. This is a specific law enforcement purpose. A cruiser patrolling our city,” said Quinn.
According to Quinn, the DA’s office has hundreds of thousands of dollars of drug forfeiture money on hand, some of which is required by law to go to certain funds.
Some of the money can also be used for law enforcement efforts at the DA’s discretion.
Original source: http://wpri.com/2016/03/10/new-fall-river-police-cruiser-purchased-with-confiscated-drug-money/