Alan C. Posted June 6, 2014 Posted June 6, 2014 Cops In Texas Seize Millions By 'Policing for Profit' Last month, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that the District Attorney’s Office in Tarrant County, Texas seized $3.5 million, plus almost 250 cars and 440 computers in fiscal year 2013, roughly equal to about 10 percent of its budget. Of the property seized, almost $845,000 was spent on salaries for 16 employees at the office. By comparison, only $53,000 went to “six nonprofits that benefit victims or prosecution efforts.” The county’s narcotics unit spent an even greater proportion of forfeiture funds on salaries. Last year, the unit seized $666,427 in cash and used $426,058 to pay salaries. Even more property was forfeited by participating in a federal program known as “equitable sharing.” By partnering with a federal agency, local and state law enforcement can keep up to 80 percent of the proceeds from a forfeited property. Incredibly, police can collaborate even if doing so would circumvent their own states’ protections for property owners.Equitable sharing doled out almost $60,000 to the Arlington Police Department and nearly $400,000 to the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Department of Public Safety in 2013. A joint task force composed of the Tarrant County DA’s Office and the DEA received almost $2.9 million, one of the highest bounties in the state.In Texas, law enforcement can keep up to 90 percent of the proceeds from forfeited property. That clearly affects police priorities and provides an incentive to pursue cases rich in assets. . . . ...using civil forfeiture, police seized over $300,000 worth of property from the students, including 15 cars, trucks and SUVs valued at more than $250,000; over $46,000 in cash; and over $17,000 from laptops, iPads, iPhones and the like. As the paper noted, “The items were seized before formal charges were filed and months before any convictions.” But according to an after-action report issued by the Fort Worth Police Department, the drugs seized in the investigation only had an estimated street value of $29,000.
thelizardking52 Posted June 7, 2014 Posted June 7, 2014 This really is terrible. It's worse than criminal forfeiture because they only have to "believe" you are committing a crime and can seize assets. It's police now stealing your assets and using the money for their own personal expenses with out any court order or due process. They only need to accuse you, and if you can't afford to fight it in court there's nothing you can do. Here's another story, on a Motel owner in Massachussets. They wanted to take his Motel based upon what the tenants were doing, even when he cooperated with police by allowing them to set up stings in adjacent rooms to entrap his customers. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/05/09/policing-for-profit-lawmakers-advocates-raise-alarm-at-growing-govt-power-to/
fractional slacker Posted June 9, 2014 Posted June 9, 2014 More proof the drug war has been and continues to be a total success for sociopaths and their sychopantic cheer leaders. And in a place where god, guns, and government are constantly praised, the war on people is far from over.
Jeff W. Posted June 23, 2014 Posted June 23, 2014 Florida's the worst. There whole system is for profit, and they skate around the laws that nearly all other states go by. What's worse is they confiscate the property of people busted for drugs to profit on that as well. Texas is awful, but its just now maturing and still years behind the poiice state the Florida is. Arizona is getting there, too. And if you didn't notice a pattern, all bright red Republican states.
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