Law enforcement took more stuff from people than burglars did last year

Here's an interesting factoid about contemporary policing: In 2014, for the first time ever, law enforcement officers took more property from American citizens than burglars did. Martin Armstrong pointed this out at his blog, Armstrong Economics, last week.

Officers can take cash and property from people without convicting or even charging them with a crime — yes, really! — through the highly controversial practice known as civil asset forfeiture. Last year, according to the Institute for Justice, the Treasury and Justice departments deposited more than $5 billion into their respective asset forfeiture funds. That same year, the FBI reports that burglary losses topped out at $3.5 billion.

Armstrong claims that "the police are now taking more assets than the criminals," but this isn't exactly right: The FBI also tracks property losses from larceny and theft, in addition to plain ol' burglary. If you add up all the property stolen in 2014, from burglary, theft, motor vehicle theft and other means, you arrive at roughly $12.3 billion, according to the FBI. That's more than double the federal asset forfeiture haul.
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Source: www.washingtonpost.com...

This is just mind blowing... and very interesting statistic. Something smells in whole system and not sure how this should be fixed.

Of course police should be able to hold assets of someone being investigated for example for fraud, but where in there is 'innocent until proven guilty' and how that should work??

What ATS thinks???

Not sure about this, not enough info to make an informed opinion, so i'll stick to just blabbing whatever comes up to the surface.

I think of the black market, how many are pushed into it cuz they can't make it where they want within the red tape of a system. then you got goons wanting their bit, too, and they don't like that you are able to black market where they can't, so they seize and pocket, and stiffy and let go.

Seems like this is thugville in this country now, cause you can't beat them, what other options?

a reply to: SuperFrog

Haters betrayers liars and thieves.

Take a good look. These illegitimate occupiers will be the ones enforcing the corporate edicts stemming from the TPP. That's why they are being trained to dehumanize.

a reply to: SuperFrog

This is nothing but looting the population. It shows how desperate the state goverment and counties are for money. It also representts some measure of how criminal and corrupt the police and judicary have become.

Another reason for these laws is that it gives the authorities a big stick to wield over the population, a means of ruling the citzenery. Step out of line, pulicly critisie the govt or the police and you will have forfiture probem.

These laws exist in Australia too but they are called proceeds of crime laws. They brought them by making the people think they are only ever going to be used against drug dealers etc but of course they never get used against white collar crims or corporate organisations.

I can see that in the not too distant they will start to wind them up and use them as they do in the US as well. Whatever happens in the US happens in Australia some years later.