cops keep non criminals money to buy vehicles.....and a clown names sparkles

ha, that right. a clown.

i figured this is the correct forum.

www.washingtonpost.com...

police agencies have used hundreds of millions of dollars taken from Americans under federal civil forfeiture law in recent years to buy guns, armored cars and electronic surveillance gear. They have also spent money on luxury vehicles, travel and a clown named Sparkles

The details are contained in thousands of annual reports submitted by local and state agencies to the Justice Department’s Equitable Sharing Program, an initiative that allows local and state police to keep up to 80 percent of the assets they seize

The documents offer a sweeping look at how police departments and drug task forces across the country are benefiting from laws that allow them to take cash and property without proving a crime has occurred. The law was meant to decimate drug organizations, but The Post found that it has been used as a routine source of funding for law enforcement at every level.

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kind of in awe.
i know the cops seize money and property all the time. they auction of vehicles and houses. ive always figured they used the cash they have taken to buy things for the department. i also just assumed it was the property and cash of people that get convicted or at the very least indicted.

this article is saying they are keeping loads of cash when there is not even an indictment filed. theyre buying $600 coffee makers and renting a clown for 'community relations'..

-----then this

Owners must prove that their money or property was acquired legally in order to get it back

i was thinking about this and that might not be that easy in a lot of cases. everything in my house i acquired legally but i doubt i can prove it.

i paid cash for my tv at wal mart a year ago. i cant prove it though. i dont have that receipt. same thing for just about everything in my house.

what about if youre driving around with a couple hundo in your pocket?even if you are gainfully employed how do you prove the money came from your job and not a drug deal?

i wonder how many are supplementing their income via 'routine' traffic stops? you know, pull over a couple on their way to the movies for doing 5 over then bracing them and taking their stuff.

edit*

this sounds to me like a near perfect scam really.
they have a law that allows for this to happen. well not this exactly but then they bend it a little bit.
tada....new source of income.

sounds like an easy thing. prove that you got your stuff legally.
maybe it should be but i would not be able to prove that for a lot of my stuff.
i also buy a lot of stuff at garage sales and goodwill. i pick up stuff that people are throwing away.....i get stuff from the craigslist free and barter sections a lot. hard to prove legally for a lot of my things.
.

And cops wonder why people hate and distrust them. They are worse than the criminals.
They bring it on themselves.

Such a policy is a big indicator of an economy under significant stress. Just before an economy blows up through mismanagement, it is standard practice for the government to squeeze the people harder and harder as things stop adding up and agencies are scrambling for resources.

originally posted by: kwakakev
it is standard practice for the government to squeeze the people harder and harder as things stop adding up and agencies are scrambling for resources.

is it standard practice for them to then piss the money away on luxury vehicles and high end coffee machines?

they're ripping people off.
people need to know about this crap

originally posted by: kwakakev
Such a policy is a big indicator of an economy under significant stress. Just before an economy blows up through mismanagement, it is standard practice for the government to squeeze the people harder and harder as things stop adding up and agencies are scrambling for resources.

And the one thing governments forget after all these centuries is that this is exactly what causes revolution.

a reply to: CardiffGiant

is it standard practice for them to then piss the money away on luxury vehicles and high end coffee machines?

It is not as bad as scraping $500 Million worth of new planes for $32K as the US public is paying for that as well. Then there is the $0- return on all the bombs and bullets going out on this perpetual war. A few are doing quite well, but not most.

originally posted by: kwakakev

It is not as bad as scraping $500 Million worth of new planes for $32K as the US public is paying for that as well. Then there is the $0- return on all the bombs and bullets going out on this perpetual war. A few are doing quite well, but not most.

i agree, thats bad^^^^
not really what we are talking about though

I can not find the article at the moment but a year or 2 ago I read local police sized a privet charter jet 4 or 5 years ago because the pilot had a large amount of cash,yes they took the cash as well.They claimed the jet may or may not have transported a know drug dealer at some point.The pilot claimed the money was to pay for services (landing fees,fuel)at remote areas were its a cash only ,or you don't land.this I believe was in Florida.

Seizing money without reason or representation?

Inst that exactly why you guys had that little war in 1776 and went independent?


surely this is EXACTLY what the 2nd was meant to prevent?


Do your cops have switch there uniforms to redcoats before you wake up and smell the tyranny ?

a reply to: crazyewok

I actually did a thread on that awhile back.
www.abovetopsecret.com...

On topic-

I as an American citizen am protected by the 4th Amendment from unlawful searches and seizures. Either in the road, in my home or on the street. This 'law' be damned!

The sooner we as Americans realize and assert this, the sooner we can gain some foothold in this treacherous social scheme.

We can NOT back down and need to refuse any injustice. This is nothing more than thuggery and robbery and MUST be stopped.

Any law that encroaches on the rights of the people and the rights afforded by our own existence is no law in my country and ALL need to have that understanding.

Just last weekend John Oliver did a piece on this on his show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. The practice as well as the segment are called Civil Forfeiture. Watch it. It's absolutely fantastic.

This is one of the reasons why law enforcement to so vehemently against the legalization of marijuana, it is a cash cow for them.

Highway robbers of old wore masks now they wear police uniforms

Generally speaking, individuals caught buying or selling drugs who are in posession of ANY money will when asked; claim that the money is not theirs and they don't know whos it is.

In situations like this its considered unclaimed property and goes through a process in which the money eventually goes to the department.

This is what I would imagine make up the bulk of these cases which lack convictions.

This isn't robbery, it's called a criminal not associating him or herself with the evidence of their crime.

Lack of conviction doesn't mean they aren't a criminal, a lot of times deals will be made where they agree to forfeit their property, be it a car or whatever In exchange for a citation or misdemeanor instead of a felony So their chances of getting a job aren't tarnished and they have a chance of becoming a productive member of society.