Policy Text
Flash Money
Purpose of the
order The purpose of this order is t o establish the policies and proc edures for the
use of flash mone y.
General policy The following list describes the general policy re garding the u se of flash
money.
A. Large sums of United States currency are commonly shown (flashe d) to
narcotics suspects in order to establish the credibility and fi nancial
capability of an undercover officer.
B. Special consideration must be gi ven to the acquisition of this money and
the security arrangements , which are established.
C. Any "Flash Roll" over $10,000 shall require the approval of the
Division Commander /or the Chie f Deputy of Investigations and S pecial
O
perations Services.
Acquisition of
flash funds The following list describes the procedure for acquiring flash funds.
A. The amount of flash funds require d is normally greater than the cash
fund maintained within the Division.
B. A request for flash funds must be made to the Bureau Lieutenant a
minimum of two (2) working da ys before they are needed.
C. The approvals require the prepar ation of a check and the cashin g of the
check can normall y be accom plished within that time frame.
Security of flash
funds The following list describes the procedure for keeping control of flash
funds.
A. There is substantial opportunity for a suspect to take control of flash
funds.
B. If this situation occurs, undercove r officers are not expected to take
individual and extraordinary ris ks for the purpose of regaining control
of the mone
y.
Continued on next page
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Flash Money, Continued
Security of flash
funds (continued) C. Team sergeants shall have the responsibility of establishing a
contingency plan to regain control of flash money if they are t aken from
the custody of the undercover officer.
D. Since it is extremely difficult for covering officers to have f ull perimeter
control in an undercover operati on, the established policy is t o install an
ETS transmitter into the flash funds whenever the flash funds t otal
$10,000.00 or greater.
E. The contingency plan shall provide for the deployment of tracki ng
equipment to perimeter officers and arranging for support aircr aft either
in an active or standb
y basis.
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