DOJ Reopens Asset Forfeiture Sharing Program After Temporary, Budget-Related Shutdown
from the and-there-was-much-[law-enforcement]-rejoicing dept
Right before the end of last year, the DOJ -- facing budget cuts -- announced it would be ceasing its "equitable sharing" program with local law enforcement agencies. These agencies complained loudly about the unfairness of being decoupled from the asset forfeiture money train, as this partnership often allowed them to route around more restrictive state laws.
Today, they're breathing more easily, thanks to the DOJ's resumption of the temporarily-disabled program.
The Justice Department has announced that it is resuming a controversial practice that allows local police departments to funnel a large portion of assets seized from citizens into their own coffers under federal law.A North Carolina sheriff is looking at getting his hands on nearly a million dollars -- all tenuously tied to illegal activity.
The "Equitable Sharing Program" gives police the option of prosecuting some asset forfeiture cases under federal instead of state law, particularly in instances where local law enforcement officers have a relationship with federal authorities as part of a joint task force. Federal forfeiture policies are more permissive than many state policies, allowing police to keep up to 80 percent of assets they seize.
“(The equitable sharing program) is a great benefit,” Graves said. “It takes money from the drug trade and puts it to better use for the community.”Meanwhile, another North Carolina sheriff says the lack of sharing might have resulted in dead officers had the feds not resumed handing out money taken from people never charged with a crime.
He said that according to the best estimate from pending cases, equitable sharing should provide the sheriff’s office with approximately $846,000.
“The restoration of the Equitable Sharing Funds will serve as a boost to the morale of law enforcement professionals nationwide,” said Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson. “These monies were used by my agency in the past to purchase much needed equipment for the safety of our officers and the citizens of our communities. I am very thankful to God that we did not lose any officers because of the lack of safety equipment during the suspension of the Equitable Sharing Program…"And it appears New Hampshire is either heavily-reliant on equitable sharing, or its representatives heavily-reliant on law enforcement support. Both senators and the state's governor issued statements welcoming back the DOJ's set of twisted incentives.
Then there's this article, with a headline that appears to have been written by law enforcement.
Money coming back: Federal program resumes helping local municipalitiesThis is not good news for citizens, as they're now facing an increased risk of having their cash and belongings taken from them without ever being charged with a crime. The best move would have been to leave this permanently defunded. The DOJ isn't saying how it's making up the $1.2 billion difference that resulted in the shutdown last year, but it likely has something to do with the fact that its seizures -- via the FBI and DEA -- are still generating plenty of "income."
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Filed Under: asset forfeiture, doj, equitable sharing, police, stealing
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Funding question.
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A little translation needed
Because the citizens really needed a tank and rpg's and ak-47s to protect the community, right? Probably quite a bit of this money is handed right back to the government for military equipment. That's probably why they had to restart the program - they saw a big drop in sales of used military stuff.
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Government thieves
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Re: Government thieves
/poe
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Why do I think Due Process is out the window here?
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People have rights, property doesn't, so once they decided that they could skip the step where they have to charge the person and instead moved straight to charging the property, any rights and/or limits were discarded, including the very idea of 'Due Process'.
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I'm thinking we need to start suing the judges' money.
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Even regulations are created in a way to 'Appear' to disadvantage businesses but they just disadvantage the citizens in the end.
The People of the US are lost, ignorant, and have the government we asked for. Yet, you will interestingly find very few willing to admit that they helped cause this problem. Just another symptom of the problem, Americans are like a bunch of raging alcoholics that refuse to admit they have a problem.
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@mark w
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Got to pay for those donuts somehow.
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Insanity meets clowns - legalize crime
Travel in armed groups. Plan well. Keep the cameras rolling and streaming.
Pray your next life will be in a more civilized place.
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I would swear they are taking the opportunity to abuse their powers as much as possible lately. Almost like they want people to start fighting back.
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Yep - they are seeing how well they have desensitized us. At some point the fog will start to clear, but they'll be well entrenched and ready for a battle by then. Almost sounds like I'm talking about daesh rather than our own corrupt-to-the-gills govt.
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So then it's ethical to steal from Law Enforcement...
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What a Joke. .
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They actually put out a travel advisory against their citizens carrying cash when they visit the states.
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Just be thankful if they don't kill you.
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Remember what the Holy Inquisition learned to do regarding Asset Foreiture
You could confiscate an entire county that way.
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Said conduct abuse
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