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Cops bait men into being a sexual predators to take their stuff (post #26)

PhDeac

PhDeac

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Yet some people think taxation is theft.

 
I love the Detective Eames appearance at the end.
 
This Week Tonight is so good and digging up the most absurd examples. United States v. Approximately 64,695 Pounds of Shark Fins is fantastic.

It is way less funny, but the Washington Post article is interesting (and long):

Stop and Seize

Behind the rise in seizures is a little-known cottage industry of private police-training firms that teach the techniques of “highway interdiction” to departments across the country.

One of those firms created a private intelligence network known as Black Asphalt Electronic Networking & Notification System that enabled police nationwide to share detailed reports about American motorists — criminals and the innocent alike — including their Social Security numbers, addresses and identifying tattoos, as well as hunches about which drivers to stop.

Many of the reports have been funneled to federal agencies and fusion centers as part of the government’s burgeoning law enforcement intelligence systems — despite warnings from state and federal authorities that the information could violate privacy and constitutional protections.

A thriving subculture of road officers on the network now competes to see who can seize the most cash and contraband, describing their exploits in the network’s chat rooms and sharing “trophy shots” of money and drugs. Some police advocate highway interdiction as a way of raising revenue for cash-strapped municipalities.

“All of our home towns are sitting on a tax-liberating gold mine,” Deputy Ron Hain of Kane County, Ill., wrote in a self-published book under a pseudonym. Hain is a marketing specialist for Desert Snow, a leading interdiction training firm based in Guthrie, Okla., whose founders also created Black Asphalt.

Hain’s book calls for “turning our police forces into present-day Robin Hoods.”
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Those stories are shocking. The $ can't come close to what police officers lose in public trust.

FWIW, I got pulled over this morning. Got off with a warning and no questions about money I might (but didn't) have in my trunk. The officer was the text book case of professionalism (and still would have been if I had been cited). So I hate the impact that misconduct like this has on citizen trust when the citizen gets pulled over.
 
The "War On Drugs" has corrupted law enforcement agencies all over this nation.
 
tjcmd said:
Taxation by another name.
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So you're against this? I'm surprised. This type of thing essentially lowers your taxes. They don't have to go to your house if they can just take money from someone's car.
 
PhDeac said:
So you're against this? I'm surprised. This type of thing essentially lowers your taxes. They don't have to go to your house if they can just take money from someone's car.
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So you're against this kind of thing? Don't they use their takings to fund the good things the government does for us?
 
tjcmd said:
So you're against this kind of thing? Don't they use their takings to fund the good things the government does for us?
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You mean killing innocent black men?

I'm not for that.
 
Give ol tj some credit, he is a very consistent arch libertarian and that ilk, to their credit, was ringing alarms about forfeiture long before the main stream media caught on.
 
There hasn't been a bad episode of This Week Tonight yet. Nary a bad segment. Outstanding show. Great writing, great research staff. HBO is the perfect platform for it too.
 
Keep posting the clips. I've enjoyed all of them.
 
Yeah. It's part of my Monday morning routine. People wondered how John Oliver could do a weekly news comedy show that covers new ground and he did it. Stewart, Colbert, W. Kamau Bell, and now Oliver have done a great job covering the news with different formats. Look forward to seeing what Wilmore does with it in January.
 
Great episode as usual.

Like most things, when regulated, civil asset forfeiture can be a good thing, but in VA I only ever saw it done after a conviction.
 
I can see the good but it shouldn't go directly to fund police or even local government. There's way too much incentive for overreach.
 
One of the best things about Oliver is the way he hooks at the start of the segment. Leading with the "TAKE A NUMBER" clip was brilliant, and had me laughing for a good minute or so. He's doing such a good job over there.

The idea that forfeitures are going towards purchases that (in that officer's own words) "would be nice to have" is scary enough, but when that turns into booze, a margarita machine, and a goddamn zamboni, the whole thing becomes absurd.
 
I don't mind the "nice to have" line since it's probably not a predictable source of revenue so you don't want to base your needs around it. But agreed that a margarita machine and god knows what else is just ridiculous.
 
PhDeac said:
I can see the good but it shouldn't go directly to fund police or even local government. There's way too much incentive for overreach.
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I agree with you and Cav here. I have friends who are cops, some of whom have been on the area drug taskforce. And from what 1 friend has said, they don't do much of that around here. First of all, most drug dealers who get busted have nothing to take (see the Freakonomics piece on drug dealing not being a lucrative business for the low level folks). Second, in VA, the locality only gets to keep a small percentage of what they take - most of it goes to some state fund - I forget the %. Third, it takes more work on the part of cops than just busting someone - why do it if you have to send most of it to the state? I think other than cash from illegal activities (like drugs or a big fake ID ring we had around here), what you see taken for the most part is the occasional vehicle if it's paid off. Although I'm sure they'd go after a paid off house if the owner was growing the pot there. But there has to be a nexus between the illegal activity and the property being seized. I don't have a problem with civil forfeiture if: (1) you wait to dispose until there's a conviction; (2) there is a nexus between the illegal activity and the property seized; (3) you have the opportunity to be heard in court; and (4) most of the $$ goes to the state. I agree that there's a much greater chance for an abuse of this process if the local cops get to keep all the booty.

And yes, John Oliver is killing it with this show. I'm really going to miss Colber(t) not being Colber(t). But I'm also hoping Larry Wilmore pulls off a good show. He's consistently risible on the Daily Show.
 
If things can go on trial, does that mean guns do kill people?
 
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