New York Times: Police Use of Civil Forfeiture Targets Cars, Criminals Perhaps Less So

by Ronnie Schreiber

November 12th, 2014 11:39 AM

Perhaps if it was published somewhere else it might have been dismissed as a libertarian rant, but an article in the New York Times about police abuse of civil forfeiture laws, where innocent property owners face the task of proving that their property hasn’t been used illegally (something that seems at odds with the American concept of innocent until proven guilty) is getting a lot of attention. Video of seminars teaching cops and prosecutors how to seize private property have surfaced and they make it seem like law enforcement is less concerned with, well, law enforcement than they are with taking your stuff. Instructions like, “If in doubt… take it!” don’t make it seem like justice is a concern. What was intended by legislators as a means to go after the tools of illegal trades has become a method of padding budgets, buying cop toys and, in what would surely be seen by prosecutors as at the very least a conflict of interest if it was in the private sector, paying the salaries of prosecutors who handle civil forfeiture cases. The Times story revels disturbing practices like wish lists of property to be seized. High on the lists are cars. Can you prove that your car wasn’t used for a crime? The government wins 96% of civil forfeiture cases.

new york times police use of civil forfeiture targets cars criminals perhaps less

Comments made on at one of those seminars by Harry Connelly Jr., Las Cruces, New Mexico’s city attorney have prompted the description of “policing for profit”.

From the NYT:

The seminars offered police officers some useful tips on seizing property from suspected criminals. Don’t bother with jewelry (too hard to dispose of) and computers (“everybody’s got one already”), the experts counseled. Do go after flat screen TVs, cash and cars. Especially nice cars.

In one seminar, captured on video in September, Harry S. Connelly Jr., the city attorney of Las Cruces, N.M., called them “little goodies.” And then Mr. Connelly described how officers in his jurisdiction could not wait to seize one man’s “exotic vehicle” outside a local bar.

“A guy drives up in a 2008 Mercedes, brand new,” he explained. “Just so beautiful, I mean, the cops were undercover and they were just like ‘Ahhhh.’ And he gets out and he’s just reeking of alcohol. And it’s like, ‘Oh, my goodness, we can hardly wait.’ ”

If that attitude raises your blood pressure, don’t watch these other civil forfeiture seminar videos at Buzzfeed. Prosecutors can even get continuing legal education credit for attending what are advertised as “entertaining” classes on how lawmen and lawwomen can legally steal your property. At one of those CLE courses, Mercer County, New Jersey prosecutor Sean McMurtry teaches his colleagues how to overcome the fact that the owner of a car is innocent, that in fact criminals don’t own most of the cars they seize, and to use a policy of “If in doubt… take it!”

#CivilForfeiture #CivilLiberties #LawEnforcement

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12 of 86 comments

Chicagoland on Nov 12, 2014

Don't let the door hit you on the way out, ;-)

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- Lie2me on Nov 12, 2014
  
  +1, came back to say this
  
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- Highdesertcat on Nov 12, 2014
  
  @Lie2me You guys are much too harsh on the choices that others make. My guess is that expats enjoy a much better lifestyle than we in America. If they didn't, they would be back here in no time. My Canadian-born brother-in-law and my American-born Israeli brother-in-law both maintain dual residences in their respective countries. Happens all the time. All it takes is money. Lots of people I know married to Mexican ladies live in both Mexico and El Paso, TX. Not a big deal. A large number of Americans live in foreign countries by choice like Belize, Barbados, Honduras, Argentina, etc to where their area is almost exclusively American. Remember McAfee? Very similar.
  
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- Highdesertcat on Nov 12, 2014
  
  @Lie2me Another comment lost to the ttac void. And I can't repost. Just wanted to say, a large number of Americans live overseas or in another country and they enjoy a much better lifestyle that we in America do. If they didn't, they'd be back here in a heartbeat!
  
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- Pch101 on Nov 13, 2014
  
  I find the thought of a disgruntled conservative running off to Canada to be pretty damned hilarious.
  
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- Lie2me on Nov 13, 2014
  
  @Pch101 ... and then turn around shaking his finger from across the border telling his family, friends and neighbors what's wrong with them and how they should fix it Coward!
  
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- Pch101 on Nov 13, 2014
  
  @Lie2me "telling his family, friends and neighbors" That would be neighbours, eh? Between the socialized medicine, higher taxes, lower incomes, and gun control, it sounds like hell on earth for an earnest Republican.
  
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- Lie2me on Nov 13, 2014
  
  @Pch101 No, the ones he left behind were neighbors. I was going to say former, but his family and friends would still be his family and friends no matter what country he lived in.
  
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- VenomV12 on Nov 13, 2014
  
  @Pch101 Are you speaking to me, because I am neither Conservative nor Republican, I am not even American.
  
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- VenomV12 on Nov 13, 2014
  
  I don't know if you are speaking to me, but even if you are not, what is the point of a comment like yours, I don't get these pointless bravado type of comments? A country is just that, a country, somewhere to live, somewhere to hang your hat. Individuals work, pay taxes and spend money, they pay the bills of many people, not the other way around. The person leaving the country loses nothing, just replaces one bed with another, no big deal. Maybe it is from living all over the world but I just don't get the whole obsession with allegiance to a particular country or state? Does flying an American flag or Texas flag bring you any sort of extra benefits in life? It makes as much sense to me as people getting all rabid over sports teams or anything else that they don't make money from and often pay money for. For example, if the Patriots win or lose the Superbowl, I don't care, I am not Tom Brady, it makes me no money and does not pay my bills. It gets even worse with the masses of sad sacks that are obsessed with universities and their sports programs but have never once ever taken a class at that university or any university for that matter. So other than making yourself feel like some sort of Internet tough guy, you telling me or anyone else to "don't let the door hit you on the way out" is nothing more than empty, meaningless words. People move everyday and people die everyday and the world goes on. If I need to see anyone that is important, I can get in a car or plane and go see them and vice versa.
  
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- Lie2me on Nov 13, 2014
  
  @VenomV12 "I am not even American." Then we don't care what your opinion is So long, farewell, Auf Weidersehen, goodbye...
  
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-Nate on Nov 13, 2014

Charlie ; Fear is not an American value . Neither is quitting . -Nate

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