Law enforcement took more stuff from people than burglars did last year – The Washington Post

Kazzy

One man. Two boys. Twelve kids.

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7 Responses

  1. Guy says:

    Isn’t this old?

    (No disagreement with the facts or what I believe to be your reasons for posting it, of course)Report

    • Kazzy in reply to Guy says:

      Hmm… it does appear that way. I got it via a link aggregator which usually only says recent stuff. I missed the dateline. Thanks for pointing that out.Report

  2. Damon says:

    “and it’s prompting plenty of scrutiny of the practice.”

    Not enough scrutiny damn it!Report

  3. notme says:

    Why is this even news? If the cops forfeit one Mercedes, boat or plane, it’s probably worth more then ten burglaries given the that average burglary doesn’t get that much.Report

    • dragonfrog in reply to notme says:

      Oh, well now you put it that way, that’s alright then.Report

      • Morat20 in reply to dragonfrog says:

        That doesn’t make it allright, but it makes it…kind of a trivial point. A burglar cannot steal your actual home. He generally can’t freeze your bank accounts and drain them.

        A guy robbing your house is gonna get away with jewelry and electronics. A government seizing your house is going to get all that PLUS the house (which is generally worth several times more, not even counting the contents a thief can’t steal without moving truck and a dolly).

        I get the comparison for shock value, but in terms of fruitful discussion — it doesn’t add much. The desirability and limits of civil forfeiture are a conversation about powers of government — the total amount seized is pretty much beside the point. (Even as an example of “too much!” — a big bust of a drug lord is going to net a lot of cash, for instance. Even if the drugs get burnt and the guns destroyed, that’s still a lot of dollar signs seized).

        I say this as someone who firmly feels that asset forfeiture has gone off the deep end, and it has metastasized into crap like Ferguson — where police and courts became tariff farmings, taking every penny they could from a captive citizenry (Even if they had to make up the crime).Report

      • notme in reply to dragonfrog says:

        Put it what way? My post doesn’t make any commentary on whether forfeiture is good or bad. I only commented on the fact that the comparison is silly and doesn’t tell the reader anything truly informative. Maybe the authors and Kazzy think hyperbole can sway peoples’ opinion.Report