For those of you who are new to this concept, asset
forfeiture by definition is the confiscation of assets believed to be proceeds
of crime or the alleged instruments of crime. By seizing assets, police
agencies have the right to sell the obtained property and use the money to
increase their budgets. Additionally, assets may be seized without the police
charging someone with a crime. With this practice stems many ethical issues.
How many of you with a car let friends borrow it? I do.
However, after first being introduced to this topic in CJS 338 with Dr.
Weisheit I am more hesitant. This is because if your friends are busted driving
your car with drugs on them, the police technically have the right to seize
your car. As an innocent owner having nothing to do with the crime, you would
want to argue that the car was just being borrowed and would demand it back.
However this would not work because in the case of asset forfeiture, assets
have guilt. I find this to be extremely interesting because inanimate objects
can be pinned with guilt. Once possessed, police agencies have no obligation to
keep the assets in 'good'
condition. If you are lucky enough to get your car back, it may be in
horrible condition. Of course, this is just one example of the many ways this
concept is practiced within agencies. Also, it should be noted that assets incorporate a wide spectrum
beyond cars.
The following is a real life example of how asset forfeiture
is abused.
The reporters in the previous clip expose the abuse of power
that some Tennessee police agencies are participating in. In this segment,
police agencies are operating outside their jurisdiction to pull over certain
vehicles in the hopes of confiscating large sums of money with power granted to
them through newly enacted legislation. Interstate
40 is believed to be a major drug route that runs east and west through Tennessee. Since an enormous amount of drugs comes to
the state through Mexico, one would think that police agencies would focus on
the eastbound side of Interstate-40. This, however, is not the case. Reports
show that the majority of the stops and confiscations are made on the westbound
side of interstate 40. Why is this? Reporters say it is because the police
agencies involved would rather have the money gained from drug trafficking than
to prevent it altogether. “Law
enforcement has lost its way. Law enforcement is supposed to be about getting
the bad guys. It’s not supposed to be about making money.” Supporters of this practice argue that the goal of focusing on the monetary side of drug trafficking strains the dealer's and supplier's pocketbooks. This can potentially have a more substantial impact on the war on drugs.
Personally, I support asset forfeiture as long as it is a by-product of great police work. In my opinion, there is no better way to use the money other than to enhance our nation's police departments. Unfortunately, as shown in the video, the potential for monetary gains may be too tempting for some departments.
Links:
Monetary gains are important to support the financial aspect of criminal justice, however as you mentioned, this may be too tempting for some departments. How much money from this type of seizure actually gets turned up as evidence. Being able to Seize money is going to lead to corruption in some fashion.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Armando. I agree that there is a very thin line. It is a big win for a department that can get away with claiming money as monetary gain as opposed to evidence.
ReplyDeleteI really like the stance Erico takes. Plenty of information was given in the blog. The video is leading and the news station is very clear on what their beliefs are. I know there may always be a legitimate excuse but $200,000 cash in the back of a big-rig is still suspicious. Criminals can be cool and calm in front of a camera but I am interested to see what comes out of that case. The money confiscated seems to be large amounts and I doubt the police are taking $10 and $20 bills away from citizens they have stopped. Of course, this law could be abused but that is the case with any law.
ReplyDeleteI feel that asset forfeiture is a great idea on paper, but as everyone said it's bound to lead to some type of corruption. On the other hand this can become a great way to improve our justice system, but to me only if it comes with a conviction and a large amounts of drugs off the streets. The video shows greed and that's it. The DICE and other agency showed 0 interest in finding drugs or any other crimes, just wanted the bills. Like I said, its a great idea on paper, but realistically there is just too many people who are too willing to take the money away from people with a complete disregard to criminal activity. I also would like to think that a law enforcement officer would be more focused on stopping crime then taking money over an arrest...
ReplyDeletegreat info