Police seizures 'sold for bulbs'
Senior officers investigated over secret kitty from selling-off unclaimed goods was used for day-to-day office expenses
SENIOR police officers in Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing are under investigation for selling seized goods - to help pay the running expenses of their police stations.
The head of the Direction Départementale de la Sécurité Publique du Nord, Didier Perroudon, said since 2008 police had been selling off items found after burglaries or raids and which could not be traced back to an owner. Judges had ordered the items to be destroyed.
He said police staff in Tourcoing originally had had the idea of selling metal from crowbars, unclaimed bicycles or scooter and car wheels to scrap dealers.
Investigators found kitties ranging from €800 to €1,300 and Mr Perroudon said the totals over a year amounted to about €2,000.
The officers had been using the money to buy lightbulbs, paint for an office wall or road maps. He said it was thought there had been no personal gain, but they were still making checks with scrap dealers.
Three superintendents and several officers have been investigated. Prosecutors have so far not proceeded with charges, but the officers will face internal disciplinary procedures.
A member of police union Unité-SGP told 20Minutes: "If senior officers are obliged to react this way to pay office expenses we have fallen a long way - and this year's budget has been cut by 15%."
