Posted on 11/11/2014 4:54:14 PM PST by Salman
The seminars offered police officers some useful tips on seizing property from suspected criminals. Don’t bother with jewelry (too hard to dispose of) and computers (“everybody’s 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 man’s “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 he’s just reeking of alcohol. And it’s like, ‘Oh, my goodness, we can hardly wait.’ ”
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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(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Cops & Criminals....it’s been hard to tell the difference for some time.
This sounds like Mexico.
What are you, some kinda cop-hater????
/sarc
“In one seminar, captured on video in September, Harry S. Connelly Jr., the city attorney of Las Cruces, N.M.....”
Seminar conducted for the police by the city attorney. Surprised there wasn’t a judge or the Feds at the “seminar” ... conspiracy instead of seminar might be more appropriate.
If a guy is trafficking drugs and you take his stuff, I could care less. If a guy is trying to get a bj, who the hell cares. I’ve participated in those sting operations, they don’t take place on Main St, USA. They’re in the crappiest areas of town, where no one gives a $hit.
However...How are these laws being expanded? Because the citizens in these states, etc believe that it will never happen to them. They are the ones that say, “I have nothing to hide, so I don’t care what they police do”. Until it does.
As conservative as I am, there are times like this where I’m glad that things like the ACLU exist.
Police are the armed division of the thieving government. Why would you expect anything different?
We no longer have a Fourth Amendment.
Yup, the cops are all honorable and fine men of distinction. These forfeitures that they drool over, and the door breaking, and dog shooting, well that’s all because of faulty laws, see. So if you don’t like it, “write your congressman”.
/puke
““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 he’s just reeking of alcohol. And it’s like, ‘Oh, my goodness, we can hardly wait.’ ” “
How does drunk drive equate to Asset Forfeiture? Any cop participating in asset forfeiture without first a conviction has automatically tossed ethics aside. He has no honor or value as a person.
LE has never been perfect, but at least it used to be honorable. Now, they are the scum of the Earth, no better than the criminals they hunt.
Cops can seize property under color of authority, backed by the power of the state. Criminals, in contrast, are prosecuted by the state.
Look at the Institute of Justice challenging cases where money was taken by the IRS because of a pattern of cash deposits, absolutely normal for some vending and grocery businesses to do.
The true evil in this is where people have had property seized without even charges filed, and in some cases, acquitted of the charges. That is why the cases are against $15,480 in cash versus the state - civil forfeiture cases are against the property taken, not you, so you’re not considered in double jeopardy if found not guilty of dealing drugs but they are trying to seize/forfeit the cash. And because civil forfeiture is not a criminal charge, you don’t have the right to a defense provided by the state. So when they take your money, you don’t have the right to a public defender, though you may not be able to afford representation without it.
Yup, the cops are all honorable and fine men of distinction. These forfeitures that they drool over, and the door breaking, and dog shooting, well that’s all because of faulty laws, see. So if you don’t like it, “write your congressman”.
/puke
I’ll raise you a full Linda Blair rotating head /projectile barf
Here’s a Washington Post article on cops who consider any large amounts of cash suspicious and hence appropriate to seize. Doesn’t matter if you are carrying cash from your business, money to buy a new car or simply carry cash instead of large checks.
Stopping the abuse of civil forfeiture
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/tim-walberg-an-end-to-the-abuse-of-civil-forfeiture/2014/09/04/e7b9d07a-3395-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_story.html
Institute for Justice, a right wing political group, on civil forfeiture abuse - such as targeting out of state cars for search and seizure.
http://www.ij.org/part-i-policing-for-profit-2
The evil of civil forfeiture is that they take your car or your cash, and it is your responsibility to prove the object is innocent. You may face repeated court visits to try to get the item/money back, and you don’t get a court appointed attorney like criminal proceedings. In some cases, people were found innocent of criminal charges like drug dealing but the cash was still forfeited. They were found not guilty, but loss of the asset wasn’t a violation of the double jeopardy rule because the forfeiture case was against the object, not you.
The civil forfeitures against property get ridiculous, like Philadelphia regularly seizing homes vaguely associated with a crime. Teen living with grandma or parents sells a little marijuana to an undercover cop, they try to take the house.
Fight the ‘forfeiture machine’
http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/inquirer/20140815_Fight_the__forfeiture_machine_.html
Institute for Justice on Philadelphia’s particularly egregious abuse of civil forfeiture
http://endforfeiture.com/philadelphia-forfeiture/
What if state laws restrict forfeiture, limiting it to only after you’re found guilty of a criminal act? The shared policing rules between the feds and the local police that give them 80% of the proceeds mean your civil forfeiture case simply ends up in federal court, where the state wins 96% of the time.
The IRS is simply seizing bank accounts because you deposit a lot of cash regularly, even when your business like a restaurant or vending machine or grocery store has a good reason to have lots of cash. And the IRS isn’t even filing civil or criminal charges against 90%+ of them.
George F. Will: The heavy hand of the IRS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-f-will-the-heavy-hand-of-the-irs/2014/04/30/7a56ca9e-cfc5-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html
Police 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
Excerpts from the article:
In Mercer County, N.J., a prosecutor preaches the “gospel” that forfeiture is not just for drug arrests — cars can be seized in shoplifting and statutory rape cases as well.
In the sessions, officials share tips on maximizing profits, defeating the objections of so-called “innocent owners” who were not present when the suspected offense occurred, and keeping the proceeds in the hands of law enforcement and out of general fund budgets. The Times reviewed three sessions, one in Santa Fe, N.M., that took place in September, one in New Jersey that was undated, and one in Georgia in September that was not videotaped.
Bkmk
All cops know what the bad cops do and what their secret covet trades are and tricks. I am still waiting for a cop to openly talk about what kind of shameless mentality goes on amongst them, genuinely warning people, instead of calling those asking questions “cop bashers”. The hypocrisy reeks.
I’m not sure if you’re disagreeing with me or not.
I have a buddy that is a DSS agent. Being that they do VISA fraud, Passport fraud and supervise security for US Embassies overseas, I can’t really think of a time that they would be seizing much of anything from anyone. But yet, they are now taking classes on asset forfeiture.
The government has gotten way out of control with this. As I said before, I have no problem with them taking money from some drug dealer....AFTER the conviction or plea(should have made that point clearer).
With regards to the IRS taking money b/c they’re suspicious about cash deposits, etc...to me, that’s a violation of the 4th Amendment. Unfortunately, the clowns in Congress want that money, regardless of their party, and won’t do anything to stop them.
But, if you think that I somehow support what is going on now, I have to tell you that I don’t.
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