Under the guise of “fighting crime,” Jeff Sessions, the nation’s top law enforcement official, gave police the green light to rob, pilfer, steal, thieve, swipe, purloin, filch and liberate American taxpayers of even more of their hard-earned valuables (especially if it happens to be significant amounts of cash) using any means, fair or foul. In this case, the foul method favored by Sessions & Co. is civil asset forfeiture, which allows police and prosecutors to “seize your car or other property, sell it and use the proceeds to fund agency budgets—all without so much as charging you with a crime.” Under a federal equitable sharing program, police turn asset forfeiture cases over to federal agents who process seizures and then return 80% of the proceeds to the police. (In Michigan, police actually get to keep up to 100% of forfeited property.) This incentive-driven excuse for stealing from the citizenry is more accurately referred to as “policing for profit” or “theft by cop.”
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Show Notes
“Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture,” Institute for Justice
“Illinois Traffic Stop Of Star Trek Fans Raises Concerns About Drug Searches, Police Dogs, Bad Cops,” The Huffington Post
“Asset seizures fuel police spending,” The Washington Post
“Law enforcement took more stuff from people than burglars did last year,” The Washington Post
“Law that lets police seize assets – $2.6 billion in 2015 – raises questions,” The Orange County Register
“'Innocent until proven guilty' should mean what it says,” USA Today
“DEA regularly mines Americans' travel records to seize millions in cash,” USA Today
“Justice Thomas Defends Victims of ‘Policing for Profit,’” National Review
“Texas police shake down drivers, lawsuit claims,” CNN
“Illinois Traffic Stop Of Star Trek Fans Raises Concerns About Drug Searches, Police Dogs, Bad Cops,” The Huffington Post
“Highway robbery? Texas police seize black motorists' cash, cars,” Chicago Tribune
“Tennessee Asset Forfeiture Bill Seeks To Abolish Abusive Police Practice,” Huffington Post
“Hidden cameras reveal airport workers stealing from luggage,” CNN
“Tea, Taxes, and the Revolution,” Foreign Policy
Martin Luther King, Jr., “The Power of Non-violence”
Policing for Profit: Jeff Sessions & Co.’s Thinly Veiled Plot to Rob Us Blind
Battlefield America: The War on the American People
Rutherford Institute