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Private Police Intelligence Network Shares Data and Targets Cash
Advocatus Diaboli writes Operating in collaboration with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal entities, Black Asphalt members exchanged tens of thousands of reports about American motorists, many of whom had not been charged with any crimes, according to a company official and hundreds of internal documents obtained by The Post. For years, it received no oversight by government, even though its reports contained law enforcement sensitive information about traffic stops and seizures, along with hunches and personal data about drivers, including Social Security numbers and identifying tattoos. Black Asphalt also has served as a social hub for a new brand of highway interdictors, a group that one Desert Snow official has called 'a brotherhood.' Among other things, the site hosts an annual competition to honor police who seize the most contraband and cash on the highways. As part of the contest, Desert Snow encouraged state and local patrol officers to post seizure data along with photos of themselves with stacks of currency and drugs. Some of the photos appear in a rousing hard-rock video that the Guthrie, Okla.-based Desert Snow uses to promote its training courses.
...who do this sort of "civil forfeiture." Badge numbers, names, pictures, locations, perhaps home addresses and phones.
I'm sure they won't mind, just as they won't mind a "civil" lawsuit or two aimed in their direction. After all, fair's fair, eh?
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
Think it is about time to curtail our police state and defund the and repeal the laws that make this possible.
Wait, so these guys are doing traffic stops and seizures (where they benefit from it) and they're not actually law enforcement?
So basically they're a shakedown racket? The more they seize the more profit they make? That's RICO level stuff there.
This kind of stuff is appalling, and it just means that a lot of stuff is being put into the private sector so they can ignore all of those pesky laws.
Unbelievable.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Otherwise known as being non-white in the South.
In polite circles it was known as a poll tax or a user fee for not being white.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
What else would we expect when we privatize police activities that should clearly be done by accountable public entites?
A corporation can _always_ be counted on to monetize anything they can get their hands on by whatever means possible.
Anymore, when I am out-and-about, I feel like one member of a big school of fish because when I see a police officer I know that it is mostly random whether I get pulled over or not. This makes him like a big fish that eats us little ones. I try to blend in (stick to the middle of the school) because it is safer. Luckily I am a white guy (that makes it easier to blend in). I really feel for people with darker skin.
Look where all this talking got us, baby.
United States v. $124,700 in U.S. Currency
"If you can't prove the crime, don't confiscate a dime."
-- some blatant pinko commie, probably Thomas Jefferson
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
black ass fault, eh?
The issue is random confiscation (aka. "theft") by local police. I don't have any problem with confiscation as long as a crime was committed and the defendant proven guilty. What isn't tolerable in any way, shape, or form is confiscation of my property because some dimwitted, local yokel cop *thought* about drugs while looking at my car.
Please do not read this sig. Thank you.
It's a fine international tradition, but one that I thought had fallen out of favor some centuries ago.
Fuck the government
http://www.newyorker.com/magaz... "Under civil forfeiture, Americans who haven’t been charged with wrongdoing can be stripped of their cash, cars, and even homes. Is that all we’re losing?"
We should necessarily prosecute the legislators for lack of due diligence for ever even trying to enact laws that have the slightest appearance of constitutional violation in letter or intent.
Means, motive, opportunity.
Am I the only person to hear a hint of racism in the name of this program: Black ASSphalt? Can the cops be that upfront about their prejudices?
Law enforcement doing their job — and bragging about it — is fine. All professions do that, it is normal.
I don't even mind them seizing the (illegal) drugs, but possession of cash is not against the law. Unfortunately, a loophole in the American legal thinking (as well as the British, which we inherited) does not provide much protection to a person's property . Nowhere near as much as to the person himself.
The Executive can seize cash, vehicles, and even real estate without Judiciary oversight or approval — and that ought to stop. Their justification — that what they are seizing things was used for "criminal activity" — comes into play, before anyone is convicted in any criminality.
That must stop. A judge may impose limitations on using of the suspect property (and fund-transfer) — the same way movement limitations are imposed on a person, while investigation is ongoing or a trial is pending. But no seizures ought to be permitted until a "Guilty" verdict is pronounced and the sentencing enumerates, what's to be seized as a punishment.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
Hitler chose Wagner; neo-fascists always choose hard rock .
Rich people often personally move large quantities of cash around - for reasons that are often illegal and almost always unethical, but that's not the point here. The point is that the first time a rich dude has his DIY cash shipment intercepted, this idiocy will end quickly. But what are the odds of an expensive and classy car with a classy, usually white person behind the wheel getting pulled over?
Hmm, if drug dealers moved their cash in Maybachs they'd go untouched!
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
It's a three part article. Start here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/stop-and-seize/
Sheesh...
Didn't people used to be hanged for this kind of thing?
"Life is pain Highness. Anyone who says otherwise is selling something"
Westly, The Princess Bride
If you look at the information about the seizures it would be immediately obvious that the targets don't look like your stereotypical redneck sheriff. Surprise, surprise.
Want to smuggle anything? Look like a good old boy and have a NRA sticker on your car. For bonus points add some Tea Party crap. The cops will give you a thumbs up and send you on your way.
Why is Snark Required?
"Repealing laws that make this possible" is a bit vague. What we need is to let people take governments to court, both on civil and on criminal charges.
Also allow class action lawsuits for police stops. That way, juries can sort out which police stops are reasonable and which are unreasonable. That's much better than the political football these issues have become through civil rights enforcement.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/... The cops have the right to take all your cash if they stop you for a traffic violation. You have to challenge it and pay your own legal fees to get your money back, which could take a year. Everyone is guilty until proven innocent in this country.