Forfeiture very often quickly becomes a slush fund for police departments and other law enforcement agencies. Paul F. Walsh Jr. His says the funds are tracked closely and that his office files reports with the state auditor and the Legislature, in addition to annual internal audits. Plymouth County's Mr. Sullivan agrees. He says oversight of the drug forfeiture account is just as tight as for the office's general operating budget.
Every single penny is accounted for.
District attorneys are required to file annual reports on their drug rehabilitation, prevention and education spending with both the House and Senate ways and means committees, and annual compliance forms with the U.S. attorney's office on their handling of the federal money. But neither district attorneys nor police departments are required to file detailed public breakdowns of their drug forfeiture expenditures. State law requires the agencies to keep records, but does not call for annual state audits. Glenn Briere, a spokesman for state Auditor A. Joseph DeNucci, says his agency routinely audits each district attorney's office every three or four years, and at that time also reviews spending in the forfeited drug asset accounts. A 1994 state audit on the adequacy of local controls over state and federal forfeiture funds revealed general compliance with state and federal guidelines, but cited the need for improvements in certain district attorney's offices, including Bristol, Essex, Norfolk and Worcester.