http://www.theagitator.com/2008/11/23/cops-kid-may-get-sweet-christmas-gift/
Remember: Always Think Forfeiture.
Don’t understand.
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Awesome.
:(
Thanks for the direct link. Workie!
Must be nice to be a cop. You always have the drugs, weapons and gaming systems you want.
in before Marcus (and bago o_O)
Looks like they managed to “find” the guys Xbox once they had the benefit of the public spotlight to help them look.
Looks like they managed to “find” the guys Xbox once they had the benefit of the public spotlight to help them look.
Such a shame that shit like this has to happen. Fuck, when did cops stop being on our side? I know it was a long time ago but still…
Probably right around 1835 when the “spoils system” began in the US.
Starting around 1835, a series of industrial and race riots began sweeping across America, mostly involving Irish and Native Americans. Cities responded by assigning their police forces the riot control function, but they soon discovered that a volunteer, night-oriented watch system was inadequate. Day watches were likewise ineffective. Full-time, salaried police officers were needed. 1845 in New York City is the generally accepted date and place for the start of paid, professional policing in America. They were called Coppers, after the copper stars they wore as badges on their Peelian uniforms. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, they were available to control riots, and were trained to think of themselves as better than the working class they were recruited from. They were armed with guns (like most citizens at the time) even when policy or public opinion prohibited it. Other cities followed and expanded on the New York model: Philadelphia with the use of wanted posters and a Rogues Gallery (mug shots); Boston with the use of informants, lineups, and detectives; Chicago and Detroit with rapid response via horse patrol or horse-drawn “flying squads”. Rapid response caught on with most Americans, and soon municipal police came to be known for it. By 1911, all were motorized and exemplified the service function, or in Egon Bittner’s words, fulfilling the need for “something ought not to be happening and something ought to be done about it now”. The service function fit well with a spoils system, for obvious reasons.
What I wonder is how it seems it took a week to get the Xbox back.
The TV station starts asking questions. Did they have to figure out WHICH xbox or something? Did the Sheriff have to round up the deputies and tell one of em to return it, no questions asked?
Institute for Justice has launched a new campaign against Policing for Profit.
youtube ad:
Report:
http://www.ij.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3114&Itemid=165
In 2004, Ali sold a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado truck to a man who paid him $500 down and agreed to pay the rest on credit. As with all cars bought on credit, Ali held the title to the car until he was paid in full and also registered the car in his name. In July 2009, the buyer was driving the Silverado and was pursued by a police officer on suspicion of drunk driving. When stopped by the police, he was arrested for DWI. Because this was his third DWI arrest, he was imprisoned, pled guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison.
After the man’s arrest, the Silverado was seized for civil forfeiture. It has been sitting in the Harris County impound lot ever since. In July 2009, Ali wrote to the district attorney, telling him of his interest in the truck and attaching copies of the title and registration naming Ali as the owner and asking for its return. The driver has been in jail since July and had stopped making payments. The government responded by filing a civil forfeiture action against the truck: State of Texas v. One 2004 Chevrolet Silverado. Through the filing of counterclaims in the case, Ali wants not only to get his truck back but also to stop the state from abusing forfeiture law against all Texas citizens.
Apparently forfeiture policy is so bad in Texas that some departments DEPEND on income from it for a third of their operating expenses.
“Because this was his third DWI arrest, he was imprisoned, pled guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison.”
what the fuck
Another from Balko (who pointed out the OP)
In the late 1990s, after a public backlash against the use of civil asset forfeiture to take money and property from innocent people, seven states passed laws assigning all proceeds from such forfeitures to public schools or the general fund instead of police departments and prosecutors’ offices. The idea was to reduce the incentive to seize assets from innocent owners and to target people based on the value of their property instead of the seriousness of their crimes.
In Indiana, the state’s original constitution called for criminal forfeitures to be earmarked for a school fund, and recent attorneys general have applied that provision to civil forfeiture as well. But thanks to various evasive maneuvers, very little forfeiture money actually ends up in the fund.
One way around the rule is “adoption,” a process in which police departments call the feds when they’re about to close a case that promises a big forfeiture payoff. The investigation then becomes a federal case, governed by federal law. The feds collect the proceeds and send as much as 80 percent back to the local cops. The school fund gets nothing, and the perverse incentives remain in place.
Another trick is to negotiate a settlement with the property owner, perhaps by letting him keep some of his allegedly ill-gotten gains. Settlements aren’t considered forfeitures and therefore aren’t governed by the funding earmark.
Many Indiana counties contract out their civil forfeiture cases to private attorneys, who get to keep a hefty commission of 25 percent or more. This arrangement creates new perverse incentives, since the attorneys choose and help prosecute cases from which they gain financially.
[cont.]
This sounds like privateers.
One way around the rule is “adoption,” a process in which police departments call the feds when they’re about to close a case that promises a big forfeiture payoff. The investigation then becomes a federal case, governed by federal law. The feds collect the proceeds and send as much as 80 percent back to the local cops. The school fund gets nothing, and the perverse incentives remain in place.
And people wonder why so many folks are reluctant to put their faith in the government.
That graph is awesome.
Possibly the MOST awesome.
This just in: democratically run governments are not, in fact, perfect.