Assets Forfeited and Returned by RI Police
Based on data provided by the attorney general’s office responding to an Access to Public Records Act (APRA) request, the state’s various police agencies have seized $10,337,190 worth of cash and property since 2012, returning $1,417,559. That’s an 86% forfeiture rate.
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That rate is not evenly distributed across programs, however. Law enforcement kept every dollar seized under a search warrant or on the grounds of eluding police, with other crimes producing the following forfeiture rates:
- Tobacco: 10%
- Gambling: 30%
- Prostitution: 50%
- Counterfeiting: 60%
- Narcotics: 92%