The U.S. Department of Justice is auditing millions of dollars in forfeiture funds seized by the Bal Harbour Police Department.
At a meeting Thursday morning, Bal Harbour Police Chief Thomas Hunker defended the use of the joint-task force forfeiture funds to village leaders and residents.
"They believe our contract employees should not be paid with forfeiture funds. In their contracts, it says that forfeiture funds can pay those people," said Hunker.
By law, the Bal Harbour Police Department is allowed to keep a portion of the money seized through raids it jointly conducts with other law enforcement agencies. The program took Bal Harbour officers to 13 states, where they arrested more than 200 people, seized drugs, weapons and cash, helping to bring in $56 million.
But there are strict rules on how the money can be spent. The U.S. Department of Justice says it found first-class flights, salary raises, and other benefits for officers in the audit, which are all against federal rules.
"When it comes to record keeping, do you think that perhaps maybe there wasn't things that were done sufficiently?" asked Local 10's Terrell Forney.
"No. There was great record keeping," said Hunker.
But why is a police department with less than 30 sworn officers sending them out of state to fight crime?
"I think the definition of police departments has changed drastically over the last ten, fifteen years. I think you would have to look at the entire nation and the entire national factors that support police departments," said Bal Harbour Mayor Jean Rosenfield.
Records show there was an average of two arrests per officer in the village that spans about 1 square mile. Nearly 4,000 traffic tickets were written.
Of the $4.2 million Bal Harbour received from the joint-task force forfeiture funds, about $2 million is left. The federal government is now demanding a reimbursement, which would be a big blow to the village's coffers.
People living in Bal Harbour aren't thrilled about the audit.
"It's a lot of money at stake," said one resident.
"I urge you to send Chief Hunker on his way," said another.
"They traveled, according to the federal government findings, that they went to California, not on police business," said Brian Mulheren. "This is misuse of funds."
"I'm telling you right now, we did nothing wrong, I'm waiting for the review to see what the allegations were," said Hunker.
"Do you have confidence in the chief today?" asked Forney.
"At this moment I definitely do," said Bal Harbour Mayor Jean Rosenfield.
The Village of Bal Harbour plans on having an independent firm review the full audit. Bal Harbour Police's involvement in the joint-task force has been suspended. The remaining forfeiture funds have also been frozen.