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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.
That is correct. This is a legalized armed-robbery ring preying on US travelers. That, folks, is how low this country has fallen.
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Right, I've run into this before. Always refuse a search. When you do that, if they are a police officer or not will become apparently rather quickly. Non-police will stall and try to get you to hang around so they can bully you into it. Ask if you're under arrest or otherwise being detained against your will, if not, leave. Have no further discussion with that person. Keep in mind that even the police departments get to keep seized cash. It may not go directly into their pocket but it goes to buying them new squad cars, weapons, vests and even towards their bonuses and promotions. So they have a very strong incentive to "Find" something on you. In a large metropolitian department it may not seem so direct to the officers. But you get into your average town that only has half a doze cops and finding a couple of hundred K in a trunk becomes a big win for them.
Even worse it's using things like RICO; which are intended for ongoing criminal enterprises (like a cartel or organized crime) as a tool to steal money from individuals.
Civil forfeiture consists of your property being the defendant, and you have no standing in the case.
Nothing better than seizing an asset, denying the owner standing in the case, and then keeping whatever was seized regardless of criminal charges filed against the owner.
Carrying cash is now essentially illegal. Ideally the police would need to prove illegal actions to keep it, or worse, you'd have to prove it was legit. But no; now they just assume it's dirty, and keep it -- with or without a charge (let alone a conviction).
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.