What happens to the money confiscated during drug arrests in The House I Live In?

• A. Given back, after individuals are found not guilty
• B. Put into a trust for the community to use for projects
• C. Taken and used by the police department that arrested the individuals
• D. It is destroyed

Answer: (C)

Asset forfeiture is the mechanism at work here. In The House I Live In, cash and other assets seized during drug arrests are often retained by the police department that made the seizure and used to fund its own operations, equipment, and budgets. This means the money serves the agency, rather than being returned to the person arrested, placed in a community trust, or destroyed.

The film highlights how this setup can create incentives for aggressive policing, since the department benefits financially from seizures even if the case doesn’t lead to a conviction. That context helps explain why the money ends up with the arresting agency in many cases.

So the money is used by the police department that conducted the arrest, not returned to the individual, not placed in a community fund, and not automatically destroyed.