City OKs $350K to House Police Money-Laundering Task Force

The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved up to $350,000 to lease office space for an anti-money laundering task force; separately, the council expressed its desire to keep Arcadia in L.A. County's Fifth Supervisorial District under proposed redistricting plans.

The Internal Revenue Service and other federal agencies team with local police throughout the nation via the Suspicious Activity Reports & Money Services Businesses Task Force, according to testimony by Arcadia Chief of Robert Guthrie and a staff report. The Los Angeles area task force is known as the LA-SMTF.  

"The objective of the task force is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle ... organized crime syndicates along with their support system that utilizes [money services businesses] to launder illicit proceeds," states the staff report. "The task force has ... shown an interest in Arcadia because of the community itself, business demographics, overall economic makeup of the city and its proximity to the U.S. courthouse, U.S. Attorney's office and the Federal Building."

An Arcadia police officer will join the task force in an 8,000 square-foot office at the Vons division headquarters building, 618 Michillinda Ave. The deal calls for a two-year lease costing $331,200, plus an additional $18,800 for contingencies.

The city's asset forfeiture dollars will cover these costs, "but any funds received from the task force will first go back to reimbursing the asset forfeiture account," according to the staff report. "Any remaining seized assets will then go toward the general fund."

The LA-SMTF teams officers from the Los Angeles Police and Sheriff's departments and the Long Beach Police Department with personnel from the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office and several federal law enforcement agencies.

Local police agencies that participate in the task force receive a minimum of 5 percent from financial assets seized annually. The city will receive an additional 5 percent of seized assets to cover its initial investment for renting the office space.

"In 2009, the task force seized $2.5 million; in 2010, over $5.6 million was seized," states the staff report. More than 15,000 suspicious activity reports are filed every month in the city of Los Angeles.

In another portion of the meeting, council members discussed county redistricting. They accepted City Manager Don Penman's recommendation to advocate keeping Arcadia in the Fifth Supervisory District because "the city has been served well by supervisors elected to the Fifth District," Penman said.

Proposed redistricting plans place Arcadia either in the Fifth or First districts. Supervisor Michael Antonovich, a Republican, represents the Fifth District, and Gloria Molina, a Democrat, is the First District supervisor.

Mayor Pro Tem Robert Harbicht, Councilman Peter Amundson and Mayor Gary Kovacic noted Arcadia's connection to foothill cities, which comprise a significant portion of the Fifth District.

"There is a community of interests with cities along the foothills," Harbicht said. "Our desire is to be represented in the same district as those cities."

Penman will draft a letter to the County Boundary Review Committee, which supervisors commissioned to study proposed shifts in representation. Boundary adjustments take place every 10 years to ensure districts have nearly equal populations.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors must adopt new boundaries by Oct. 31; however, August is most likely when they'll make a final decision, according to Penman's report. The review committee will present supervisors with a recommendation on boundary adjustments later this month.