Police Department Revenue Source: Stealing from Poor People
Taking property from poor people without due process of law in order to enrich local police departments. Seems like the sort of thing Barack Obama might have fought to change in his days as a community organizer.
One of the most astute observers of global criminal justice policy, Radley Balko, writes that above missive in a recent blog post on his popular Agitator blog. As it turns out, indeed, the Obama administration supported via friend of the court briefs, the State of Illinois’ seizure of assets from 6 people NOT charged with any crime.
Soon, the U.S. Supreme Court will review the Alvarez v. Smith case in which, as noted, six persons had their property seized - and were never charged with a crime. The facts of the case, as Radley Balko points out, are this:
The six petitioners in Alvarez each had property seized by police who suspected the property had been involved in a drug crime. Three had their cars seized, three had cash taken. None of the six were served with a warrant, none of the six were charged with the crime. All perfectly legal, at least until now.
Under DAFPA (Illinois’ Drug Asset Forfeiture Procedure Act), incredibly, the government can delay for up to 187 days before an aggrieved property owner can get even a preliminary hearing on warrantless seizures of less than $20,000. The three car owners, for example, had to go without their cars for more than a year.
As shocking as that sounds, President Obama’s Justice Department sided with the State of Illinois in the initial court battle. The more conservative U.S. Supreme Court may not feel the same way.
So what are the police departments doing with the assets seized from people who have committed no crime? Selling them, of course, and sticking the proceeds in their budget coffers. In Roseville, Michigan over 4% of the police department budget comes from selling looted assets. In Romulus, Michigan it’s over 11%!
File this under, if you aint angry, you aint paying attention.
Crime, Government | admin December 11, 2009
