It’s sure to be an insult to gangster pride.
Police officers could soon be behind the wheel of vehicles seized by B.C.’s civil forfeiture office.
The office is inviting law-enforcement agencies interested in using one of two vehicles seized as a result of their owners’ involvement in the drug trade or illegal gang activity to apply to receive a two-year loan of the vehicle for use in community outreach.
One vehicle has already been promised to the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Team, which is focused on fighting gang and organized crime.
“We welcome the opportunity to use a forfeited gang vehicle to further our engagement with at-risk youth and counter the allure of the gang lifestyle,” CFSEU Chief Supt. Dan Malo said in a statement.
The make and model of the vehicles available for loan will be determined by what the civil forfeiture office seizes over the next few months.
In its seven years of operation, the office has seized about $31-million worth of assets used in criminal activity. More than 100 vehicles — most with links to drugs, gangs or organized crime — have been seized and sold via online auctions open to public bidding.
In 2011, Abbotsford police asked for the use of a forfeited Hummer H2 once used in the Victoria drug trade.
The SUV was turned into a “rolling billboard” and wrapped with a skin of anti-gang messages, such as “Plan your future, not your funeral” and “Easy money can get you hard time.”
There was also a large sign saying, “This vehicle was seized from a drug trafficker.”
In a statement, Abbotsford police Chief Const. Bob Rich said community partners have joined the department to buy the vehicle after the two-year loan was finished.
“Young people throughout Abbotsford have come to recognize the Hummer,” Rich said, adding it has “opened the door to important, potentially life-saving conversations” between kids and officers.
To safeguard the integrity of the self-funding civil forfeitures office, a vehicle will not be loaned to any agency involved in its forfeiture, and only a vehicle forfeited as a result of drug or gang involvement will be considered for the program.
The police agency must also develop its own anti-gang messaging and pay for operating costs and insurance, as well as the application of a skin displaying appropriate messages.
After two years, the vehicle will be returned to the office to be auctioned off or loaned to another applicant.
“I think young people appreciate the irony when they see a drug dealer’s vehicle turned into something that supports police and public safety,” Attorney General Shirley Bond said in a statement.
“We believe the value of loaning vehicles on an ongoing basis will far exceed what we’d get by just auctioning them off.”