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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPolice Ripped Off More Stuff Than Burglars Did Last Year
Civil asset forfeiture is big business for cops.
When you think about getting property stolen, you think about criminals, but maybe you should be thinking about the police. Law enforcement use of asset forfeiture laws to seize propertyoften without a criminal conviction or even an arresthas gone through the roof in recent years, and now the cops are giving the criminals a run for their money, and winning.
According to a new report on asset forfeiture from the Institute for Justice, police seized $4.5 billion in cash and property through civil forfeiture last year. That exceeds the $3.9 billion worth of property stolen in burglaries during the same period. The valuation of burglary proceeds is from the FBI's annual Uniform Crime Report.
http://www.alternet.org/drugs/police-ripped-more-stuff-burglars-last-year
WDIM
(1,662 posts)Armed robbers held a family at gun point and took their belongings
My first response: you sure it wasnt the police?
If a robber breaks in steals your stufd thats home invasion armed robbery major crime.
If police bust in kill your dog steal your plants and your belongings thats just business as usual.
I fail to see a difference.
Iggo
(47,563 posts)surrealAmerican
(11,362 posts)I still don't understand why the courts have ruled in favor of asset forfeiture. It seems to be a pretty clear violation of the fourth amendment.
tecelote
(5,122 posts)If you can't trust the police...
2pooped2pop
(5,420 posts)but they are working very hard to catch up.
Initech
(100,097 posts)tecelote
(5,122 posts)hunter
(38,322 posts)The police are often tools of the dominant gang, in some cases "lawful" businesses like money-laundering banks, pharmaceutical corporations, and many unlawful groups that happen to be cooperating with with our sketchier, least transparent government agencies.
There's a lot of dirt in the CIA, FBI, DEA, NSA, the U.S. military, and other alphabet soup agencies.
The police are in many ways the foot soldiers.
The "War on Drugs" especially, is the face of something much uglier.
A reasonable response to drug problems is to treat addiction as a medical issue, not a criminal problem.
But that takes the money out of the game, for both the drug gangster bad guys and the law-enforcement-prison-industry "good" guys who are in no way making this world a better place.
lpbk2713
(42,766 posts)They have the biggest scam going.
It would cost a lot in legal fees and time missed from work and they know it.