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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPolice Use Department Wish List When Deciding Which Assets to Seize
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/10/us/police-use-department-wish-list-when-deciding-which-assets-to-seize.html?_r=0The seminars offered police officers some useful tips on seizing property from suspected criminals. Dont bother with jewelry (too hard to dispose of) and computers (everybodys got one already), the experts counseled. Do go after flat screen TVs, cash and cars. Especially nice cars.
In one seminar, captured on video in September, Harry S. Connelly Jr., the city attorney of Las Cruces, N.M., called them little goodies. And then Mr. Connelly described how officers in his jurisdiction could not wait to seize one mans exotic vehicle outside a local bar.
A guy drives up in a 2008 Mercedes, brand new, he explained. Just so beautiful, I mean, the cops were undercover and they were just like Ahhhh. And he gets out and hes just reeking of alcohol. And its like, Oh, my goodness, we can hardly wait.
Carole Hinders at her modest, cash-only Mexican restaurant in Arnolds Park, Iowa. Last year tax agents seized her funds.Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime RequiredOCT. 25, 2014
Mr. Connelly was talking about a practice known as civil asset forfeiture, which allows the government, without ever securing a conviction or even filing a criminal charge, to seize property suspected of having ties to crime. The practice, expanded during the war on drugs in the 1980s, has become a staple of law enforcement agencies because it helps finance their work. It is difficult to tell how much has been seized by state and local law enforcement, but under a Justice Department program, the value of assets seized has ballooned to $4.3 billion in the 2012 fiscal year from $407 million in 2001. Much of that money is shared with local police forces.
In one seminar, captured on video in September, Harry S. Connelly Jr., the city attorney of Las Cruces, N.M., called them little goodies. And then Mr. Connelly described how officers in his jurisdiction could not wait to seize one mans exotic vehicle outside a local bar.
A guy drives up in a 2008 Mercedes, brand new, he explained. Just so beautiful, I mean, the cops were undercover and they were just like Ahhhh. And he gets out and hes just reeking of alcohol. And its like, Oh, my goodness, we can hardly wait.
Carole Hinders at her modest, cash-only Mexican restaurant in Arnolds Park, Iowa. Last year tax agents seized her funds.Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime RequiredOCT. 25, 2014
Mr. Connelly was talking about a practice known as civil asset forfeiture, which allows the government, without ever securing a conviction or even filing a criminal charge, to seize property suspected of having ties to crime. The practice, expanded during the war on drugs in the 1980s, has become a staple of law enforcement agencies because it helps finance their work. It is difficult to tell how much has been seized by state and local law enforcement, but under a Justice Department program, the value of assets seized has ballooned to $4.3 billion in the 2012 fiscal year from $407 million in 2001. Much of that money is shared with local police forces.
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Police Use Department Wish List When Deciding Which Assets to Seize (Original Post)
Jackpine Radical
Nov 2014
OP
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)1. If they are so proud of detering crime with civil forfeiture...
Why don't they brag about it?
Why don't they post lists with what they confiscated and show off the good work they do?
JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)2. Excellent points!
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)3. holy shit. corrupt bastards
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)4. Policing for profit. This is an obscenity.