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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.
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.
Privatization is a means by which corrupt bureaucrats hide the largess of government from an unsuspecting populace. Then they run on a record of "shrinking" the government.
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.
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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?"
Means, motive, opportunity.
What else would we expect when we privatize police activities that should clearly be done by accountable public entites?
What else would we expect when we privatize the entire government and effectively do away with accountable public entites? That's only a slight exaggeration of the current situation - soon it won't be an exaggeration at all.
It's also not entirely an issue of privatization. Even when the DEA didn't have the private-sector taint outlined in the article, they were over-zealous over-enforcers with their own political power and their own obvious vested interest in keeping drugs illegal and penalties harsh.
That said, you are right, and ruthlessly weeding out private-sector parasites like Desert Snow would be a very good place to start - presuming there's enough accountable government power left to do so.
'The Economy' is a giant Ponzi scheme whose most pitiable suckers are the youngest among us and the yet-unborn.
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.
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?
Privatization is a means by which corrupt bureaucrats hide the largess of government from an unsuspecting populace. Then they run on a record of "shrinking" the government.
It is more than that. It is wealth transfer from government employees to corporate owners. They sell it is a cost reduction that comes from using private employees who get paid less and don't get very good benefits because of competition between bidders. But after a year or two the institutional knowledge makes it extremely difficult to change to a new service provider so th company gets a lock on the contract, raises prices to match or even exceed the original costs but the employees remain underpaid and the difference goes into the pockets of the corporate owners.
You end up with the worst of both worlds - bureaucratic inefficiency and poverty-level wages. At least with direct government employees they were paid well enough to spend money in the local economy. This just sucks the local tax dollars out and puts it into the international stock market.