Posted on 09/07/2014 9:29:08 AM PDT by grumpygresh
The practice has been controversial since its inception at the height of the drug war more than three decades ago, and its abuses have been the subject of journalistic exposés and congressional hearings. But unexplored until now is the role of the federal government and the private police trainers in encouraging officers to target cash on the nations highways since 9/11.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
I used to live in a city where the cops carried their own evidence. "Well lookie here! A half gram of cocaine; right out on the seat in plain view!"
Many of them also carried a throwdown. "He resisted arrest..."
With the "War on Drugs" scheme, we moved well past the point where Atlas Shrugged to making human nature and the Bill of Rights illegal.
That’s my car!
Volusia County in Florida routinely stops southbound Cadillacs and new big Lincoln sedans with NY or NJ or MA license plates for stop-and-seize because of the phenomenon of moderately successful yankees taking all their savings in cash to go to Florida to retire. They stop them, trigger a dog to “alert” on the car, search it and find the old couple’s hoard of cash. It is taken and never returned. Volusia will fight it out in court as far as it goes and I don’t think anyone has got anything back. Lawyers don’t like to sue for it because it is kind of fruitless. Volusia says, well. it’s drug money and tests positive for traces of cocaine. Just about all non crisp brand new 50s and 100s test positive for cocaine. I would have thought this would have ended years ago as people up north got the word but apparently it has not ended. Probably more old folks who left their cash in the bank and are travelling on Visa are apologized to and left by the side of the road to put their possessions and the insides of their cars back together to continue their journey.
Yet another example of how George H. Bush was an awful president.
There doesn’t have to be any smell for a drug sniffing dog to “alert” on a car or a person. The dogs are trained to sniff out substances and to alert on a hand signal.
That happened before to some stripper that had saved her “tips” to buy a car. She took them to court but I don’t remember the outcome.
I saw a story on Dateline NBC at least 20 years ago about people being stopped in Volusia County, Florida for alleged minor traffic violations on I-95.
After the Volusia County deputy gave the driver a warning and started to walk away, he would stop, turn around, and then say to the driver, “By the way, do you have any guns or drugs in your car?” The driver would of course say no, and then the crooked deputy would say, “Do you mind if I take a look?”
If the driver said no, the jackboot would send for the drug dog, which of course was trained to “alert,” thus triggering a search. Fascist bastards.
Liberals got us big government. This is the spearpoint of big government.
Our local police were making out like dot.com entrepreneurs, `feathering their nest’ with new carpeting, big screen TVs, exercise equipment and more.
You would think confiscations would go into the general fund, but no, it was booty.
What about ‘conservative’ drug war supporters?
She got off with a lap dance for the judge. For that matter, so did he.
Whatever you have is due to the government. Simple when you get your mind right. Or else?
This “dog alert” is just a scam. What is the false positive rate? Are the dogs objectively graded or is there some bogus certification given by an expert at an academy run by an ex-cop? I’ll bet there a lot if dogs that are trained to “alert” when given cues by the cop or even when they just see a vehicle.
These older folks are going to have to think a little more out if the box when moving their wealth out of state.
I decided to read the comments at the source and one of the last was very good. Questioned the training of the dogs. What if the dogs are trained to smell for cash?
LOL; I did a search
Judge orders cops to return strippers $1 million IN CASH taken during traffic stop
Former dancer Tara Mishra, 33, lost part of her life savings when cops confiscated it from her business partners during a traffic stop, suspecting it was drug money.
They may be ignorant, but they understand completely. Civil Asset Forfeiture Laws say the money (and anything else of value) belongs to him.
Now, do YOU understand?
By the way, this affects a lot of retirees who travel the US in their vehicles. Plus antique buyers who travel around to estate sales, flea markets, yard sales, etc. And Advantage Players who play Video Poker and other winnable casino games. Most of the foregoing people are older, Caucasians. Not exactly the "Drug-Runner" profile - if you know what I mean.
Nevada license plates are a big reason to be stopped by greedy cops, as well. Might be a retired, antique-buyer, gambler with cash, ya know.
“What ever happened to due process?”
That was in America, where I grew up.
I now live in the united states.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.