KrashPAD: Would you call 911 if the police steal your car?
There's a growing problem in this country. In fact, in the Metro Detroit area, this problem has blossomed at a rate of more than 50%, and generated a price tag of at least $30.63 MILLION dollars as of 2007 (that 50% growth rate is from 2003, by the way).
What could this problem be?
For those who are not aware, a forfeiture is when the police take private property away from citizens, and either charge them money to have the property returned, or sell said property at auction. Of course, this property doesn't have to be "property" as it could just be sums of cash that they have seized.
Also notice that I never said that the property in question was utilized in a crime, nor that the people who have had their property take was ever charged with a crime. Convictions are out of the question in this process.
Why you ask? Why would the police--those individuals supposedly there to stop the forced taking of private property, be actively performing this activity?
Here's a quote from one Sgt. Dave Schriener, who runs Canton Township, Michigan's "forfeiture unit:"
Police departments right now are looking for ways to generate revenue, and forfeiture is a way to offset the costs of doing business.You'll find that departments are doing more forfeitures than they used to because they've got to -- they're running out of money and they've got to find it somewhere.
For the record, the Canton Township has a population of around 90,000 and their "forfeiture unit" raised $343,699 in 2008.
It's not surprising that more and more police forces are actively using forfeiture as a way to generate income. After all, the more money they bring in, the less that the legislature will hand them. Therefore, they need to seize just that much more the next year. It's an endless, destructive cycle which has lead to such things as forfeitures for gambling, minor drug possession, and even loitering near illegal activity.
Yes, you read that right, just being close by illegal activity is enough to get your private property taken away, and you not being able to get it back until you pay a fine--and again, there was no crime being committed by the person who owns the property.
This is just another of the many, many abuses by the occupying military police forces that is found in every corner of our nation.
And the blantant theft of private property in order to further fund the insanity involved in police military operations on our soil is just a further insanity that needs to be cleared up.
Consider this, I don't normally like the thing that comes out of the more liberal justices mouths. In fact, I cringed at some of the historical opinion/rulings from Justice Sotomayor during her confirmation hearings. But, I'm about to quote her.
Last month, the Supreme Court heard a case on six people from Chicago who sought PROMPT hearings on the seizure of their cars and money (notice that we're not even talking about getting this stuff back, but just getting the chance to say "hey, there was no crime, and that's mine" to a judge). During this, a federal attorney told the court that the government needs time to determine who owns a car and to investigate that person's connection to the criminal activity.
To this statement, Justice Sotomayor said: "I'm sorry. You take the car and then you investigate?"
If even a Leftist can see the logical fallacy in a process or statement then you've got to realize the utter lunacy which it entails.
I Want A Peace Prize!