Seizure Fever: Proof is for Suckers

[Sindawe]

You have to question whether or not the police and courts are just another gang, stealing money and demanding protection tribute like the mob.

I don't think there is any question about it anymore ...

No, I don't think there is either.

A few years back, one of the members of another forum I used to frequent had in his signature the image of some graffiti that stated "The Police:Largest Street Gang in America".

Sad thing was, he was/is a LEO...

 

[mike101]

Medula Oblongata

Your story is amazing. I wonder if you would have been searched if you had denied having a lot of cash. Supposedly, they can't search your person unless you are already under arrest for something. I didn't realize that just having cash is grounds for arrest. What did he tell you he was arresting you for?

I used to think those malitia guys out in Montana were all nuts. Now, I am beginning to understand. You should call a newspaper, or better yet, a local TV station.

I just don't understand how they get away with this stuff.

Start the Revolution!

 

[crazed_ss]

I just don't understand how they get away with this stuff.

They get away with this stuff because people these days are willing to sacrifice freedoms for the promise of security. Look at the threads on this board where people are supporting racial profiling and things like that. Sure, it sounds good when only Arabs are being harrassed, but supporting tactics like that is a slippery slope. Once you start allowing one people's rights to be violated, no one will be safe.

 

[mike101]

Yes, but apparently the police around the country have been pulling this cash confiscation nonsense for some time now,since long before 9/11. That piece I saw about the incidents in FLA was on 6 or 8 years ago, and not all of those people were minorities. And these people aren't arrested for anything. The cops take their cash under the claim that it is suspected drug money, and send them on their way! It's a totally transparant scam.

 

[crazed_ss]

I imagine this whole confiscation thing is a result of the "war on drugs".. Many people are willing to sacrifice a lot in the name of busting drug dealers.

 

[benEzra]

Yes, but apparently the police around the country have been pulling this cash confiscation nonsense for some time now,since long before 9/11. That piece I saw about the incidents in FLA was on 6 or 8 years ago, and not all of those people were minorities. And these people aren't arrested for anything. The cops take their cash under the claim that it is suspected drug money, and send them on their way! It's a totally transparant scam.

Because many people have the perception (carefully nurtured by the proponents of asset forfeiture, IMHO) that the victims in these scenarios are people who are Not Like Them. If they are having their assets stolen, er, seized, they MUST be criminals or bad guys, or they wouldn't have had their stuff siezed, right?

For some people, the fact that a victim of a crime is Not Like Them makes the crime in question more palatable. I think that's a crying shame.

 

[TallPine]

Then he asked if I had a "large amount" of cash on my person.

"Well, since the tail light is okay, then I must be free to go now, correct...?"


Honestly, it's crap like this that makes me not trust cops much anymore

 

[spartacus2002]

I just don't understand how they get away with this stuff.

because the American public has been brainwashed into believing the following:
1. All illegal drugs are evil.
2. Anyone who uses or sells illegal drugs is evil.
3. Anyone who exhibits characteristics of someone who uses or sells illegal drugs is evil.
4. Anything the government does to someone evil is by definition "not evil."

I would rather have meth, heroin, cocaine, and pot be legal, manufactured by Anheuser-Bush or Hersheys, and available for purchase at the state ABC store than have a government that stomps all over the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and our liberties.

And for those who say "FOR SHAME!! Do you actually WANT people to be able to get drugs? Do you want YOUR KIDS TO GET DRUGS??", all I can say is "well, they can get them now with our BoR being systematically shredded, or they can get them now and the BoR remains intact. Which would you prefer?"

 

[ceetee]

Coconut Creek cop admits thefts from four immigrants, gets probation

FORT LAUDERDALE -- A Coconut Creek police officer pleaded guilty Wednesday morning and was sentenced to probation for stealing money from immigrant day-laborers during traffic stops.

Steal a few hundred you go to jail. Steal a few hundred thousand, you get "Officer of the Year." I guess it's just a matter of degree, isn't it?

 

[publius]

This place is full of pretty sensible people, so the other side of this argument is poorly represented. Anyone who wants to see someone seriously argue that taking your property is not an attack on your freedom, the show goes on right here.