Confusion about the right of police agencies in URGENT to claim forfeiture money appears to have been widespread. In the Town of Ulster, Supervisor James Quigley III said he thought the town police departments were entitled to a cut of the proceeds. When he realized the money was not forthcoming, he withdrew a detective from the task force in 2010. InKingston, which at one time contributed five detectives to URGENT, Police Chief Egidio Tinti said he had never received or expected forfeiture money during his tenure as the KPD’s administrative officer with oversight of the department’s budget. The Ulster County District Attorney’s Office, meanwhile, files its own paperwork with the feds seeking a share of forfeiture money despite being a signatory to the MOU.
Gallo: You owe us
Mayor Shayne Gallo, who initiated the scrutiny of URGENT’s forfeiture program, has been unequivocal in his contention that the city is owed money. According to Gallo, a preliminary look at the numbers has led him to the conclusion that the KPD should receive at least $50,000 and possibly much more based on their work with the team.
“The bottom line is that the city is entitled to some kind of reimbursement,” said Gallo. “The sheriff should be able to quantify the city’s participation in these investigations and we should be reimbursed accordingly.”
Van Blarcum agreed with Gallo’s assessment that the KPD was entitled to a share of the seizure money and reiterated that a solution could have, and should have, been worked out months ago. Van Blarcum pointed out that Auerbach’s conclusion that the most “prudent” course of action would be talks between the parties to resolve the issue without harm to the task force or the participating agencies.
“That’s exactly what we are doing, we work it out amongst ourselves, that report was a waste of time,” said Van Blarcum. “[If not for the comptroller’s probe] we would have had it settled by now.”
