£21m was seized from criminals during the 2008/09 financial year, new figures from the Metropolitan Police reveal today. Officers say the sum, which was obtained from 4787 individuals, comprises proceeds raised by the enforced sale of criminal assets, bank balances and the forfeiture of cash originally seized on arrest.
The force says the 4787 includes those whose assets are seized at the beginning of the judicial process and notes that judicial scrutiny of due process “is thorough and can take three years or more”.
DCI Tristam Hicks, head of POCA Implementation Team, said: “This has been made possible not just by the Proceeds of Crime Act, 2002 but also by a sustained effort by the MPS to train hundreds of managers and staff across the organisation.”
“The public can be confident that their local police are deterring future offending by taking the cash out of crime.”
Some of the money recovered comes back to the Met from the Home Office and is used to reduce crime. In addition, £500,000 supports the Safer London Foundation each year in its effort to divert our young people away from a life of crime.
Communities can access this funding through www.saferlondonfoundation.org
