It’s So Easy to Steal Stuff With Civil Forfeiture That Cops Are Getting Picky

The New York Times listens in on
recordings of civil forfeiture seminars and
discovers that cops like to take people’s stuff, especially if
it’s really nice:

In one seminar, captured on video in September, Harry S.
Connelly Jr., the city attorney of Las Cruces, N.M., called
[seizable assets] “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.'”

As that case illustrates, civil forfeiture—which allows police
to take property allegedly linked to a crime without going to the
trouble of charging, let alone convicting, the owner—is not just
for drug offenses anymore. It also can be used to grab cars and
other assets that police say are connected to offenses such as
drunk driving, shoplifting, solicitation of prostitutes, and
statutory rape. The opportunities for such legal theft are so
numerous, in fact, that cops are getting picky:

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 New Jersey, the police and prosecutors are allowed to use
cars, cash and other seized goods; the rest must be sold at
auction. Cellphones and jewelry, [a New Jersey prosecutor] said,
are not worth the bother. Flat screen televisions, however, “are
very popular with the police departments,” he said.

The Times notes that grabbing cars can result
in “widely varied penalties,” since “one drunken driver
could lose a $100,000 luxury car, while another forfeits a $2,000
clunker.” But under civil forfeiture law, losing your car, cash,
boat, or house does not count as a penalty, which is why your guilt
need not be proven (or even alleged). In fact, “prosecutors
estimated that between 50 to 80 percent of the cars seized were
driven by someone other than the owner.” It’s the property that
stands accused, not the owner.