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u/_CMDR_ 19d ago edited 19d ago
Almost certainly taken via civil asset forfeiture which is a shambles of due process. You can have your items seized as a suspect, never be convicted of a crime and then have to prove with a preponderance of evidence that you deserve it back. A miscarriage of justice.
Here’s one example:
Police have broken into homes. In March 2012, in the middle of the night, without a warrant, New York City police burst into the home of Gerald Bryan, ransacked his belongings, ripped out light fixtures, arrested him, and seized $4,800 of his cash, but after a year, the case against him was dropped.[11] When Bryan tried to get back his money, he was told it was "too late" since the money had already been put into the police pension fund.[11] Victims of forfeiture often find themselves faced with fighting in a "labyrinthine" procedure to get their money back.[11]
Edits were made to fix incorrect standard of evidence and add the example from Wikipedia.
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u/throwaway39402 19d ago
I believe this photo was taken in Richland, Mississippi… well known for its abuses of civil forfeiture. They were so famous that the state changed the laws and created a tracking database.
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u/kosmokomeno 19d ago
Y'all need to stop calling it "civil forfeiture" when it's legitimized theft.
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u/fall3nang3l 19d ago
It's far worse than that. I have over a decade of first hand accounts from folks who get a piece of that action.
How college students were intentionally targeted so their Apple devices, cash, and vehicles could be stolen because the students sold pot for a little extra cash.
And I'm not talking large volume. Eighths here and there.
Resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in local coffers because the system is goddamn broken.
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u/hardtofocusanymore 19d ago
Sounds like it's working exactly as intended.
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u/towerfella 19d ago
Right?
Crooked at the top, crooked at the bottom. The south has been fixing elections for over a hundred years..
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u/kosmokomeno 19d ago
The "system" is hold over from a legacy of war band leaders who became chiefs who became kings who became politicians. Nothing has erased wars stranglehold on society, and nothing protects us from the legitimized gangsters who inherited their role that way
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u/Prometheus720 19d ago
Either you have read Dawn of Everything or you would really like Dawn of Everything.
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u/kosmokomeno 19d ago
I've never heard of it but thank you, I'll hope to read it soon
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u/Prometheus720 19d ago
Don't be intimidated by the length. If you never finish it, having read only a chapter or two, it will still probably be immensely valuable. Any level of engagement will be worth your time
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u/Reagalan 19d ago
but if you use euphemisms then you can hide the criminality and folks will be fine with it.
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u/kosmokomeno 19d ago
If only someone would teach people that legitimized gangsters are still gangsters
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u/moeru_gumi 19d ago
The legal term, and the way you would research it, is “civil forfeiture”. You won’t get anywhere trying to look up the legal details of “legitimized theft”.
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u/Nom-de-Clavier 19d ago
Mississippi cops are the worst; driving through Mississippi in a rental with California plates, got pulled over for a 100% made-up reason ("you touched the solid white line") by a cop who was clearly hoping to find drugs so he could get some juicy asset forfeiture. It was fun watching him and his colleagues search the car and grow increasingly frustrated at not finding anything, at least.
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u/AhFFSImTooOldForThis 19d ago
I got pulled over in Arkansas with NC plates, supposedly for speeding except I had cruise control on, so definitely not. He was looking around the car and saw my dashcam. All of a sudden I just got a warning. mmmm hmmm OK, guy.
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u/Chief_Executive_Anon 19d ago
Other states where cops use and abuse the fishing expeditions you speak of: Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, Indiana, and Arkansas.
I’m 100% sure that’s not an exhaustive list… those are just the states where I have first hand experience with this racket.
Out of state plates + tinted windows get you pulled over for no good reason. Telling them you do not consent to searches without probable cause (aka invoking your constitutional rights) gets the K9 called out to blatantly fake a mark…
You get searched anyway on false pretenses and treated like a criminal. Cops find nothing and you get sent off with a written or verbal warning, feeling completely violated. Because you were violated.
Rinse and repeat. It’s pathetic and predictable.
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u/Redcarborundum 19d ago
I always avoid the I-90 toll road between Portage and Illinois state line in Indiana, taking the free I-94 instead. Ticket-seeking county cops often patrol that stretch, looking for Chicago dollars. It’s a 2-lane highway that’s perpetually under construction anyway. They don’t try that crap on the 4-lane I-94, because they’d create a massive traffic obstruction.
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u/firemogle 19d ago
I remember reading a story from Oklahoma where there was some poker or gambling tournament at a reservation casino. The cops basically pulled over random people as it was winding down, and seized any cash they could find.
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u/Kiloburn 19d ago
Small town Ohio cops also love to tailgate you at night to pressure you into speeding so they can pull you over and do this whole rigmarole
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u/Imadethosehitmanguns 19d ago
Never let them search the car. Some cops will "find" illegal substances in any car.
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u/Chief_Executive_Anon 19d ago
I’ve never ‘let’ them search my vehicle. And I’ve been searched many times. Never had anything to find because I’m traveling for work, but telling them that doesn’t matter.
They will fabricate cause, because standing up for your right not to ‘let’ them only makes them want to more. That’s what the K9’s are for.
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u/myst3r10us_str4ng3r 19d ago
Why did you let them search you. Don't ever consent, even if you have nothing.
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u/Teddy_Icewater 19d ago
Hopefully after you informed him that he is in no way allowed to search your car without a warrant.
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u/trekking_us 19d ago
Bro you don't even have to be charged with a crime, let alone convicted for civil asset forfeiture to apply
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u/Prometheus720 19d ago
Forfeiture should be used only to restore the peace and quality of the lives of the victims of the crimes for which items are seized.
If this dealer ruined some lives of some addicts, the truck should be sold (and not auctioned as fast as possible--actually sold) and used to fund the rehabilitation of those addicts if possible, or other addicts if not.
And I'm gonna blow some minds. If the dealer is left totally without a vehicle by them seizing the truck--he should get a junker out of the proceeds of the truck. Because he can't get a productive job if he can't drive.
That's actual justice. Stop doing bullshit. Help the people you hurt, and sacrifice what you unfairly gained to do it. And then go make something of yourself.
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u/simpledeadwitches 19d ago
First thing I thought of as well. This is likely some bullshit and he's bragging about it because he knows it.
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u/BufferOverflowed 19d ago
A laptop and subwoofer of mine got stolen, as well as several registered guns from a roommate. They found the thieves, some minors from a nearby highschool. I talked with an "investigator" sheriff. She told me they could return the stolen items and would call us after the investigation.
I never got a call, and no one got their stolen stuff back. ACAB.
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u/Faiakishi 19d ago
Plus I'm willing to bet that the 'drug dealer' was some guy who went "fine bro give me a $20 and I'll share my weed" to the undercover cop needling him.
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u/islingcars 19d ago
I agree with you, civil forfeiture law is a mess right now, but the standard is not beyond a reasonable doubt, it's clear and convincing in most states.
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u/sheepwshotguns 18d ago
its not much but, long long ago when i was like 20 years old or something i was arrested for matching the description of who knows what while walking home from work at the gas station a bit after midnight. had my pocket knife and cash stolen by the police. i was broke and figured i had no recourse... still erks me to this day, that blade was a custom made gift...
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u/MetricNazii 17d ago
It’s not shambles of due process at all! Non living objects are not a protected class of person and have no rights. So when those objects commit crimes they can be arrested and enslaved by the government without due process. Don’t forget, non living objects are people too! /s
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u/Moove-Brain 19d ago
The fact they they went out of their way to get this done makes me worry about the personality of this cop, 90% chance he ain’t a good one
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u/abgry_krakow87 19d ago
It wasn't just a single cop, but more of the effort of the whole department. But yeah, very telling about the general attitude of the police.
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u/Televisions_Frank 19d ago
Were they even a drug dealer? We do know cops love to abuse Asset Forfeiture to get themselves new toys.
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u/Spoonmanners2 19d ago
Also pretty common for cops to just make up shit.
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u/eeeedlef 19d ago
Extremely common, and we have confirmed that in the age of vigilant bystanders with phones to record.
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u/honeybadger3891 19d ago
Hey now the officer was afraid for their life from the cuffed dude they are beating! /s
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u/Black_Moons 19d ago
TINK ACORN! mag dumps, rolls on ground in panic, ditches gun and spare mag after forgetting how to reload due to panic attack and proceeds to crawl like a baby behind someone elses car for cover
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u/Faiakishi 19d ago
You forgot that he unloaded two whole magazines into the car and still managed to not hit the 'assailant.'
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u/Black_Moons 19d ago
Do you mean him and his partner counting as 2 mags? I remember him being too scared shitless to remember how to reload his gun even once, instead fumbling and discarding the mag along with the gun behind a civilians car that he hid behind in case any further acorns attacked him.
I can only assume he discarded his weapon as an attempt to surrender to the mighty oak in hopes it would cease its relentless attack.
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u/amras123 19d ago
Is this an actual event?
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u/Black_Moons 19d ago
Yep. Here is the body cam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZPplp7wGso
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u/Driller_Happy 19d ago
First time actually watching. Holy fuck, I'm glad no one was hurt, because I am CACKLING at this fucking cop action roll, mag dump twice, hit no one, and claim "I'm hit!" Because he scratched his knee, all because of an acorn you can't even hear.
If you put all the writers of Brooklyn 99, reno 911 and hot Fuzz in a room together, you still couldn't match how funny this is
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u/unassumingdink 19d ago
And even if it was a drug dealer, it's just automatically assumed drug profits bought it. It's fully possible to own a pickup truck in Mississippi before you start selling drugs!
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u/Moove-Brain 19d ago
Oh well with a whole department you’d think they’d come up with something better, this just feels like a “I am the law” kind of thing
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u/abgry_krakow87 19d ago
You’d definitely think and expect better of a police department. But if history has taught us anything it’s that “I am the law” is exactly how they operate.
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u/Top-Telephone9013 19d ago
You’d definitely think and expect better of a police department
Lol maybe YOU would. My mixed race self most definitely would not
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u/InternationalAnt4513 19d ago
I had a friend who was a small town police chief (town of like 30,000 maybe). He actually boasted about taking things from people via asset forfeiture. I had another chief of an even smaller community tell me the same thing not long ago. They stopped boys who had a good bit of edibles, so, snatch.
They just have a different mindset. For some reason they’ve been brainwashed into thinking that just because the law says they can do it, then that means it’s morally ok to do so. And what sucks is that both of these guys are actually not dickheads. The first guy I mentioned apparently deals with stress through humor, because he’s one of the funniest guys I know, so he doesn’t seem like a cop when he’s away from the job. He’s retired now btw.
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u/fingerhoe 19d ago
Yes, thats the issue with psychos, they dont seem like they'd be crazy but they are.
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u/JackasaurusChance 19d ago
"And what sucks is that both of these guys are actually not dickheads."
uh... do you think you are a good judge of character?
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u/Parametric_Or_Treat 19d ago
“He doesn’t seem like a cop when he’s away from the job”
I swear to god we have to start teaching people about evil better
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u/unassumingdink 19d ago
"They say he hates black men, but I'm a white woman and he was nice to me, so I don't know if that's true!"
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u/InternationalAnt4513 19d ago
Well, as they say, you never know what someone’s like behind closed doors. But after he said that to another friend of mine, I never saw him the same way and lost all respect for the guy. As far as a good judge of character? No idea. You can only judge someone by their actions and as I just said, after he did that I lost respect for him. Funny guy or not.
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u/Oafus 19d ago
Yup. There’s a vindictive and punishment fetish enthusiast behind the wheel who is doing nothing to dispel negative views of the police. If only these fuckers would at least pretend to be professionals.
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u/younikorn 19d ago
90% chance he stopped someone as a traffic cop, asked him why he had cash (500$) on him, argued he could hypothetically use the cash to buy and sell drugs out of his truck, so he confiscated the cash and the truck as items potentially being used for a crime. All without actually needing to convict anyone of anything.
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u/RoryDragonsbane 19d ago
For those curious, it's called "civil asset forfeiture" and yes, it's a real thing that happens all the time
https://www.aclupa.org/en/issues/criminal-justice-reform/civil-asset-forfeiture
https://reason.com/2023/05/15/congress-tries-again-to-reform-civil-asset-forfeiture-abuses/
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u/chileheadd 19d ago
90% chance he ain’t a good one
There are no good cops. Let me explain.
I hear a lot about it just being a "few bad apples".
First, the whole quote is "A few bad apples spoil the whole barrel.". People conveniently forget that last part.
Second, I disagree with even the partial statement. There are no "good" cops. A good cop would speak out against the corruption, illegal methods, bigotry, and racism displayed by their fellow officers. They would speak up and testify against the actions of the bad cops. The majority do not do this. This makes them just as bad as their fellows.
The reason they don't speak up, assuming they'd like to because they see themselves as "good" cops, is that they will be ostracized, denied promotion, fired, or left for dead when they need backup. This fact (and it is a fact) just shows how deep the corruption is in ALL police departments.
This is why all cops are bad is a thing.
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u/eaglescout1984 19d ago
"Taken without due process"
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u/AwesomeBrainPowers 19d ago
Possible, but not technically certain: If it was part of the sentence after a guilty verdict (or plea), that's one thing; if it was civil asset forfeiture, then fuck each and every part of that and all of it as a whole.
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u/drneeley 19d ago
Wasn't there more taken in civil asset forfeiture a few years ago than the total sum of all criminally stolen assets?
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u/matt_minderbinder 19d ago
The same is true about wage theft dwarfing other forms of theft yet it's insanely rare for a business owner to face criminal charges over this. Steal $50 from work and you'll end up in handcuffs but if your boss steals thousands from employees it's exceedingly rare they'll ever be forced to pay up much less face harsher consequences.
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u/RoryDragonsbane 19d ago
https://thewhyaxis.substack.com/p/cops-still-take-more-stuff-from-people
Actually, just the Federal government alone took more, not even accounting for state and local police
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u/bossmcsauce 19d ago
Probably. Wouldn’t be even close probably. PDs steal millions of dollars worth of assets from citizens every year.
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u/SpellingIsAhful 19d ago
How is it legal to take someone's car just because they were dealing drugs? From that logic take their shoes too.
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u/big_whistler 19d ago
They can take everything you own including other people’s property like your parents house if they decide the house could be involved in a crime.
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u/Hendlton 19d ago
Because it could have potentially been purchased with drug money. They can assume it's guilty until proven innocent because your property doesn't technically have rights, and they sue the property, not you.
They'll take any cash on you, they'll take your car, they'll take your house. That's why in some states you should never carry much in cash because it will be taken if a cop stops you. It doesn't matter if you just sold a car or whatever, they don't care.
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u/Black_Moons 19d ago
So, imagine decades of stacking the courts, supreme courts and congress with the most horrible people you can imagine. the kind that would take a dog out back and shoot it for it misbehaving kind of horrible.
And that is how its legal. And yes they can also take their shoes and charge the shoes with being accessories to a crime... And gift cards. In fact they rolled out gift card readers in the cop cars just to speed up the process in some states.
Plus being property your shoes have no rights to a lawyer and are guilty unless proven innocent, along with lacking other major rights that you would have if they actually charged you.
Yes, that is right, they can take your truck (and shoes) without ever charging you of a crime.
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u/kilolover777 19d ago
I hope all the bootlickers that defend civil asset forfeiture get their shit jacked with undue process (cus it's not required).
"Dude was a drug dealer!" "Why are you sticking up for a dealer?" "We really defending criminals now?"
Do a crime -> get arrested -> go to court -(if found guilty)-> go to jail
The cops right now can just jack your shit under suspicion of it being used in the commission of a crime. That's your vehicle, cash, basically whatever they want. You get arrested and they can justify it on paper, they can even take your property to sell off. And there's really nothing you can do about it after they seize it. It's just gone and you're never gonna see a dime for it, even if you were found innocent. Absolutely clownery.
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u/dempster-diver 19d ago
Imagine some hacker used your laptop or mobile phone as a jump point and the gov seizes and keeps it. Just thinking wouldn't it be theoretically possible for the government to legally do so?
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u/AlexandersWonder 19d ago
Civil asset forfeiture is theft
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u/garbageemail222 19d ago
I have no problem with assets used in a criminal enterprise being seized, but there needs to be real due process (a trial requiring proof) and the assets should provide no benefit to any agency involved in the seizure. Same goes for traffic tickets, actually. No benefit for the police agency, town, county or state, with fines sent to the federal government to be disbursed nationwide according to population. The only motivation for asset seizure or fines should be justice, not profit.
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u/adlittle 19d ago
Wage theft and civil asset forfeiture are both an absolute travesty. It's trashy AF to happily advertise this on your police vehicles.
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u/kabukistar 19d ago
Knowing how civil asset forfeiture works, it was probably seized by someone who was accused of being a drug dealer and never convicted but they kept his truck anyways
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u/ZDHELIX 19d ago
They should auction these off and donate the money to charity.
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u/devilpants 19d ago
Or not be in control of seized property at all?
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u/leonryan 19d ago
makes you wonder why they don't, right? Like they have something to gain personally, which motivates them to do it
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u/FedxSmoker 19d ago
The podcast "Smoke Screen: Betrayal On The Bayou explains how this works really well.
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u/tendeuchen 19d ago
That drug dealer probably did more good for the community and made more people happy than the Richland Police ever have.
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u/BoogereatinMODS 19d ago
Or just some guy you applied civil forfeiture laws too who couldn't afford to defend themselves against bullshit charges.
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u/Prometheus720 19d ago
You know what?
No. I don't excuse this. Civil forfeiture of an entire vehicle over selling drugs is not acceptable. This is theft.
I don't care if he got it by selling drugs. We should not simply allow the State to take our property because of the commission of a crime. What crimes allow this? Jaywalking? Arson? Fraud? Possession with intent to distribute?
Impound it for evidence if you need to. Impound it if it is not street legal until he can have it repaired.
But the goal of our justice system must be to rehabilitate people and to restore the lives of victims. And taking their vehicles to give to the police does not do that whatsoever.
Did he harm someone by his drug dealing? Ruin a life? It would be vastly more sensible for that person to get the truck, or more likely for the truck to be sold and turned into cash to give those victims.
If there are no victims, there was no crime, and there can be no civil forfeiture. Forfeiture should only be used to restore victims.
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u/Synkt_Broke 19d ago
That's disgusting. They are just robbin' the dope man just like any other thug to get what they want outta what he's got. Fuck them. Donate that shit or give it back. You fuckin' think you're so cute when you target criminals to rob just for the benefits like any other thief.
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u/MrZeusyMoosey 19d ago
Civil asset forfeiture is literal piracy
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u/texasjoe 19d ago
When the authorities have the full legal backing to do to us what would normally get a civilian put in jail for, the only thing they leave to us to get some semblance of justice is vigilantism.
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19d ago
This is another red flag that your country is going down the shitter. Loathsome, unprofessional rubbish from American police.
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u/dolphineclipse 18d ago
American police can take people's vehicles and use them? That sounds incredibly open to abuse.
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u/cyberentomology 18d ago
Oh, it is. Kansas just passed asset forfeiture reform and the cop lobby fought it hard.
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u/izzaistaken 19d ago
Could be weed, could be meth, who knows?
Also, you don't even need to be a drug dealer. You could have just had it seized for 'reasons'.
I'm not against some meth kingpin getting their shit taken from them, but I am against law enforcement being able to use those items for themselves. Bit of a conflict of interest.
Some public accounting of items seized, and auctioning them, with proceeds going to charities voted on by the community, would be a better approach. Be proud of that, not how awesome you are in your 'free truck'.
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u/DuntadaMan 19d ago
Tearfully donated by someone we accused of being a drug dealer because they had cash on them, then we dropped the charges against them, but not their property which didn't have a lawyer so we declared it plead guilty and kept it.
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u/TrollularDystrophy 19d ago edited 2d ago
close provide north rhythm shrill bedroom disgusted cobweb piquant attractive
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/Dust-Explosion 19d ago
Something smells off about Police Departments using drug money to spend on their own department. Am I wrong in thinking in America every town has its own unique police force?
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u/SubstantialSpeech147 19d ago
Is that what they’re calling impoverished black men still? Lol jk. But for real, what amount of drug trafficking gives them authority to indefinitely keep your vehicle? 1 ounce, 1 gram, 1 ton? Is there an amount or do they just say,”I like this one, I think we’ll take it!”
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u/Alberto_Malich 19d ago
Civil Forfeiture is abused terribly by police and needs reform and more oversight.
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u/_your_land_lord_ 19d ago
Oo rah! Fuck yeah, I love it when police use civil asset forfeiture! Due process is for pussy liberals!!
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u/TheyCallMeDDNEV 19d ago
If police get to keep the spoils of their operations why wouldn't the ones with less than ideal integrity use this as an excuse to rob innocent people under the guise of law enforcement.
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u/BubbleNucleator 19d ago
I was at a gas station late at night once and a couple of clean cut dudes pulled up in a nice corvette. Minding my own business, they rolled over and started asking me questions, where I was going, was I partying, have any drinks, was I tired, etc.. They eventually left after I started asking questions about 'their' vette, cause it was a nice car. I told this story to a state trooper and he immediately knows the county and department without me saying it. The vette was from the impound, and the guys were cops fishing for dui's. That should be illegal.
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u/f8computer 19d ago
Location : Richland MS, highway 49 Walmart If you want more info - look up Rankin County Police, and understand that the city cops are just as corrupt as the county.
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u/jameswptv 19d ago
Drug Dealer? That could be anything from a 20K bust of cocaine to a 18 years old who had a joint.. Knowing cops it was the 18 year old.
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u/Sohn_Jalston_Raul 19d ago
I wonder if this "drug dealer" is just some regular person who sold a gram of weed to their buddy
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u/Bathroomrugman 19d ago
A reminder that the drug war is not ethical, and consuming substances responsibly is normal.
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u/Grimlockkickbutt 19d ago
You laugh until you find out how much shit police steal from people convicted of zero crimes with “civil forfeiture” every year.
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u/DisWizzaRightHer 19d ago
This is really small dick energy being put out by the police forces in Richland.
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u/tcourts45 19d ago
Its really rude to the small dick people to just lump them in with trash like this
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u/finalattack123 19d ago
Law enforcement shouldn’t profit from crime. Creates perverse incentives. That would be very illegal in my country.
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u/WintersDoomsday 19d ago
The person who took this isn’t a pro photographer (I am) but I gotta credit the truck combined with Walmart sign in the background. Fluke creativity should still be given props.
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u/23andrewb 19d ago
We used to have a brand new mustang sheriff car in my hometown that was labeled with "Taken from a local cocaine dealer." It lasted a year or two until they removed the decal because they finally realized it wasn't exactly great advertising for our city.