By Kevin Aldridge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

DOWNTOWN - Cincinnati City Council voted Wednesday to take control of and dictate how a portion of the money and assets seized by police from drug dealers is spent.

Council unanimously passed a motion to take legal authority over a fraction of the millions in forfeitures and reinvest them in the communities in which they were seized.

"This is a tremendous win for our communities," said Councilman Christopher Smitherman, who introduced the motion. "I am very excited about putting together a concrete process that puts that money back into communities most impacted by crime."

State and federal laws prevent council from taking all the confiscated money from the Cincinnati Police Department's asset forfeiture fund. However, council can control a smaller share that must be returned to the community.

The law requires that 10 percent of the first $100,000 that is forfeited must be spent on community crime prevention education programs. The law also stipulates that 20 percent of any amount seized above $100,000 must be spent on those programs.

Cincinnati police have confiscated about $6.8 million in money and other assets from criminals during the past five years. Smitherman estimated that would translate into about $600,000 for community preventive education programs.

Council ordered the city administration to create an application process for selecting recipients and a way to determine the effectiveness of the distributed funds. Council also asked that the availability of the funds be marketed fairly in all communities through neighborhood and community councils.

Council would give final approval.

"This motion is a good first step," said Judy Mendriski, a member of the Central Vine Street Block Club, a group working to make the neighborhood safer and improve police-community relations. "Hopefully, we will get some of this money to help start our Respect campaign."

The Respect campaign is a resident-led education and sensitivity program for police patrolling in Over-the-Rhine. It is designed to help police get more in touch with the struggles of residents in the neighborhood.

E-mail kaldridge@enquirer.com