The Dane County Narcotics Task Force’s practice of collecting a significant amount of its budget from auctioning the property of those they arrest has raised eyebrows among a local party intent on relaxing Madison’s drug laws.

In the State of the City Drug Policy address held Aug. 20 by the Progressive Dane Party, the party stated that the Dane County Narcotics Task Force receives tens of thousands of dollars of its budget, including half its $44,000-per-year rent, from drug-related seizures of private property each year. The task force made 679 drug-related arrests and seized $763,000 in cash and drugs last year alone.

Stephanie Rearich, co-chairwoman of Progressive Dane and chairwoman of its Drug Policy Task Force, believes this presents a conflict of interest for the police.

“It’s widely believed our present course of action runs on inertia,” Rearick said. Rearick said she believes financial dependence on forfeitures is a “corrupting influence,” greatly reducing the likelihood that the seeking of justice is the driving force behind enforcement of the law.

But according to the Dane County Narcotics Task Force, the effect of drug-related monetary profits on its budget is relatively low.

“Our annual budget far exceeds $700,000, and seizure money is never an issue in the budget,” said Sgt. Dave McCaw of the Narcotics Task Force. “I can assure you that money is not our target, and we’re not in the moneymaking business.”

In the address, the Progressive Dane proposed that the Narcotics Task Force phase out acquiring money obtained from seizures: “We recommend that the Narcotics Task Force remove forfeiture money from its budget, that seizures only take place after an individual is convicted of a significant charge, and that forfeiture money be redirected toward treatment and prevention programs. In the long term, drug-related property forfeitures should be phased out altogether.”

Mayor Sue Bauman has recently expressed interest in the Progressive Dane’s views. Mayor Bauman recently declared the U.S. war on drugs a “failed strategy” and has challenged city and county agencies to look into the issue more closely.

“We were in the planning stages to put the conference together, and then 9/11 happened,” Bauman said, suggesting the city government became distracted from addressing the issue.

One firm supporter of the Progressive Dane’s stance is Ald. Judy Olson, District 6, who wants users of medical marijuana to be able to grow their own plants within the city limits and is currently working with the Progressive Dane to develop such a proposal.

Many citizens have been vocal in their strong opposition to the Progressive Dane’s report and its calls to decriminalize marijuana in Madison.

“When a cop came to answer one of our calls about a resident smoking marijuana, she said that the Madison Police Department can’t give a citation to individuals using it for private use,” said Britt Powell, a resident advisor at the Highlander private residence hall, who believes the Progressive Dane Party is fighting an uphill battle. “It seems like there’s no solution, because even if it’s happening in a room, it is still in a dorm setting, and it affects the rest of the community. What the Progressive Dane is trying to do is just going to make it worse.”

The Progressive Dane would like to see the legalization of many currently illegal drugs in an effort to move away from the war-on-drugs mentality and toward a policy of controlled and regulated business, according to Rearick.

Richard Althouse of the Wisconsin Department of Corrections explained, “Rather than paying $25 for an ounce of pharmacy-grade cocaine, one instead pays $1000. $1200 for a kilo of cocaine in Colombia can ultimately produce almost $1,000,000 in money changing hands before the kilo is exhausted in the U.S.”

Implementing a policy of government regulation in legal trade of now illegal drugs will eliminate scenarios like the one Althouse proposes, according to the Progressive Dane.

“I was in high school in 1977 when [Ordinance 23.20] was passed, and essentially it was the citizens of Madison who voted it in,” said McCaw. “So now, if a small group makes a lot of noise, it’s not going to change much. But if the overwhelming majority of citizens feels strongly, we’re going to change the way we do things.”