How Police Departments Use Civil Forfeiture to Collect Billions

they're called accomplice get your hand better pocket now tomorrow I'll come in there don't shoot your dog particularly in rural areas the counties are always having budget issues and law enforcement has found that they can fund themselves using the state and federal forfeiture statute in civil forfeiture if the government thinks that your property is somehow connected with a crime they can take it and they can do all this without ever charging with a crime much less convicting you with one they made me feel like I was a criminal I didn't do anything wrong the people who used to fall victim to the asset forfeiture were the big drug kingpin last year alone over 10,000 drug criminals were convicted and nearly 250 million dollars of their assets were seized by the DEA it's not like that anymore we now know in the United States the average amount seized is eight hundred dollars and they're doing that off the millions of people they don't want to stop doing their forfeiture program because they're making so much money I'm really surprised our government can get away with them such a player dysfunction 21 chance of this burglary and finally teleport burger alright now we're going to head over to the house that will be serving a search board we know there's drug I think we've done by there but 25 minutes ago we did it we did a recon withdrawal by there are multiple people there unknown exactly who everybody is there are dogs their weapons you never know mess for sure pills I mean just you name it we'd the Spartans be in there so very very likely that there will be a cache also at that point everything gets seized and no file for forfeiture and it takes this legal course so it's worth taking the money because we're hurting and by taking the money word and why I think at that point they can't buy dope anymore for that decision Ruby makes them [Music] we're gonna run all of you anybody got warrants we're good inside hey officer [Music] what'd you find we're use what I see or what now I want to find a mess first let me collect everything hold on a staple here on the face oh that bingo I got to come to the safe - not that one - I got a grin there you think Seymour we don't know a lot about forfeiture and that's one of the real problems that we know that in the federal system civil forfeiture is by far the most used form of forfeiture because it doesn't require a conviction criminal forfeiture which does require a conviction is only used about 13% of the time eighty-seven percent for the for the civil forfeiture as anyone who's even seen a rerun of law and order knows how the criminal justice system is supposed to work if the police think you committed a crime they they can arrest you and then they have to take you to trial and at that trial you have the presumption of innocence the government is supposed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you committed to climb that they saved it in civil forfeiture if the government thinks that your property is somehow connected with a crime they can take it they can keep it and in most instances they get to keep 100% of it and they can do all this without ever charging with a crime much less convicting you with one and if you challenge them in court most often you have to prove your own innocence in order to get your property back and that terms what we know about constitutional protections on its head the police and prosecutors have every incentive to seize your property and to try and keep it because in most states they get to keep what they seize it's a great way for law enforcement to get money to keep money and to create their own little slush funds free from the sort of oversight that ordinary political spending has that brings up an interesting topic how do you decide forfeiture funds you know it's usually based on a need well I picked it back pressure not imagine you you sign off on yeah it's there are some limitations on it you know it's actually it's not really on the forfeiture stuff it is we just usually base it on something that would be nice to have that we can't get in the budget for it for instance we try not to use it for things that we need to depend on you know because we need to go ahead and have those purchased but it's kind of like pennies from heaven you know it gets you a toy or something that you need is the way we typically look at it all across this country they're attacking law enforcement on the way they use their Rico dollars [Music] but it's only done so because some agencies have used those dollars inappropriately the intent purposes so that we can really impact the war on drugs and if you're going to deal in drugs I'm going to make it so it's not profitable for you I'm going to take every last penny you have if you're dealing in drugs but it's a shame if they're using Rico dollars to fund their County you can't just look at now look I got over time money or look they paid 75% of my officer salary and so if the intent and purpose it behind your Rico statutes is to take money so you can buy a desk well that's wrong and I get it sometimes that's all the money they have but yeah you hear the stories that all they seize this guy's cars because he had a little baggie of marijuana personal use ok I hope that's not what's happening does it happen I think our agents already done something similar to that but we see something and we probably shouldn't have my name is Barry Cooper according to my bosses during an Associated Press interview they claimed I was one of the top narcotics agents in the country at the time I've worked joint operations and was cross trained by the u.s. Border Patrol US military FBI US Customs unfortunately I'm responsible for arresting hundreds of citizens for nonviolent drug crimes and during my tenure as a narcotics officer I seized millions of dollars in cash and assets through civil forfeitures the driver and passenger stated that they don't know where this money came from they don't want it they don't want to have anything to do with this I remember showing my bosses that with my dogs the first money seizure I made paid for my salary the fuel for the car and everything for an entire year they're like man this guy is on to something and I made them rich you're looking for narcotic [Music] the most egregious thing I see about asset forfeiture is law enforcement habit of manipulating the citizen out of their money by threatening an arrest if they answer the seizure papers for example when I was a police officer and we caught somebody with a large amount of money whether it was drug money or not we straight-up told them on the side of the highway we're not taking you to jail right now for money laundering although we could within 30 days you're going to get a letter in the mail saying you're being sued for this money because we think it's drug money if you answer the charges and you fight for this money then I'm going to come after you with an arrest warrant for money laundering and we're going to arrest you put you in jail if you choose not to answer the civil paperwork we will win the money in default and you'll never hear from us again god that's what Jared is it I'm seizing it a human burden of proof that's required is beyond a reasonable doubt because we're breathing and we're alive and it takes more evidence to supposed to take more evidence to seize us and put us in a cage but it takes half that evidence to seize property because it's not breathing it doesn't have any civil rights so it's seized based on what's called the preponderance of the evidence if most of the evidence says it could be drug money then it's going to be seized and it's going to be taken [Music] can I get ludachristmas I mean I want to know what is justice is there I give this country my sixty years of working now what more do you want I [Music] represent mr. Waide in this gentleman who are currently charged with multiple felony offenses here in Arizona they were arrested by the state police here because they were found to be growing 14 medical marijuana plants here in their property in the garden as a result they currently are facing a mandatory prison sentence of four to ten years if they're convicted of this offense and they're also facing the seizure and forfeiture of mr. Wade's home 26 acres of property all of their vehicles and other property personal property that the police seized when they raided the home this is where the authorities came in is our garden down here we had received a plant for Wendell's birthday so we planted it in this garden right here and a concerned citizen called the police and now we are probably going to lose this house that Wendell worked his whole life for 60 years so we smoked a little weed - what you know and now they want to take my property after busting my ass 60 years to get it and they want to take it from me if I hurt somebody and done somebody did you know bad I'd say okay I got the punishment coming you know but I didn't I didn't do nothing we've been offered one to four years probation $25,000 fine and 30 days in jail but the other thing is that still means that they can try and seize Wendell's property and then how that's resolved my son securities is a it's a thousand thirty one dollars a month that's what I get that's it that'll be all the income that I'll have if they take my property from me can you even pay your rent on a thousand a month I can't pay rent on a thousand one and so I leave me out on the street begging for for some horrid sleep everybody in the county knows they're hard up for cash they make no bones about it and this and all this is real feather in their cap I'm sure they made me feel like I was a criminal I didn't do anything wrong you know I lend a car to my daughter to go to work and I guess she was having problems and she went to go get it fixed and that's when all this happened they took the car away from her so I pick up the grandkids every day you hear some of these stories and their aura like it's always claimed that these laws help fight the cartels but these forfeitures are affecting not just cartels they're affecting everyday people who are doing perfectly innocent things and are having their life savings taken their homes take in their cars taken based on nothing based on nothing that would ever stand up in court as them having been involved in any sort of criminal activity these are the papers they send us there's only one that we understand is that if we want to give the card just fill this out and put it in the envelope and send it in you know we're not lawyers so we you know they tell us that well we have to get alert and fill it up for one lawyer told me that uh the car wasn't you know he would cost me more to pay him and to get the car back and the person that brought us the peanuts he closed when we went downtown that the people would help us in late she didn't like yeah we can't answer your questions you know you just need to fill out the paperwork or you need to get a lawyer and it seems like they just want to take it from us they don't want to give us a chance to get our vehicles back it allows me to be changed you know we need help here so not only is there a law that says no civil forfeiture and is no municipality following the law which has been recognized nationally as the gold standard of civil forfeiture reform but we also have public officials who continue to enact new forfeiture ordinances and new forfeiture programs contrary to the law as a result of that we teamed up together after the session was over and after the governor signed the bill in order to bring this lawsuit against the City of Albuquerque and get them to comply with the state law one of the big problems for us and that Senator Ivy Soto and I and I have been personally facing is that New Mexico is a very poor state and so when this reform was passed one of the reasons none of the municipalities have been following the new law is because they can't afford the hit in revenue it is a tremendous amount of money so then these police departments and the cities and the counties are going where are we going to get all this money because they have some basic governmental needs that they have to take and they that they have to take care of them they have to fund there's a huge problem because they have this many incentives but we're a poor state and they need the money and it ends up being a backdoor tax on people who can't afford a lawyer exactly so it's a backdoor tax on poor people so you know one of the great things about forfeiture reform is that it can be a real bipartisan soar across the political spectrum issue in an era where people are worried about increasing polarization nationwide what we've seen is it really the only groups that have come out against these reform measures are law enforcement they insist that nothing's wrong they insisted there that they're doing good they insist it that we can trust them and you know a lot of places law enforcement carries a big lobbying stick they're popular nobody wants to say oh I'm posed to law enforcement or I'm feel Pro criminal activity but that's how they then turn around and pitch this indeed if you want to make a difference for our communities take away criminal proceeds forfeiture funding you'll make a huge difference it just won't be a positive difference the criminals will thank you people who are concerned and have legitimate concerns about the way that forfeiture is being you are then afraid to go forward with it I can agree that the people who commit crimes shouldn't profit from them but we have a way in this country of deciding whether someone has committed a crime and whether they profited from it it's called a criminal trial and that's what the Constitution is a man you [Music] [Applause]

Channel: VICE

Views: 1,609,346

Rating: 4.7766848 out of 5

Keywords: documentary, documentaries, interview, interviews, culture, wild, lifestyle, world, exclusive, independent, underground, videos, funny, funny videos, journalism, vice guide, vice presents, vice news, vbs.tv, vice.com, vice, vice magazine, vice mag, vice videos, Civil Forfeiture, police raid, crime, drugs, drug trafficking, money, police force, police, cops, 5-0, police officers, police brutality, supreme court, scotus, tyson timbs, michigan, privacy, government

Id: EP88_mNK3-U

Length: 17min 58sec (1078 seconds)

Published: Tue Mar 14 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/CatTurret]

This fills me with an almost unreasonable level of rage. The absolute opposite of freedom.

[u/[deleted]]

I don't drive anywhere unless I absolutely need to anymore. Gone are the road trip worry free days. We live in a strange point in society where we are the exact opposite of free. Where even going outside could change your life for the worst.

Still though, can't live in fear.

[u/moelycrio]

I've seen some fucked up things........but that takes the biscuit

[u/Summamabitch]

Yet another reason to not trust those fuckin pigs.

[u/spike771]

I thought this was a snap from 21 Jump Street. The "heavier set" gentleman with the AR looks like Jonah Hill from that angle.

[u/loose-leaf-paper]

This is fucked up and should be illegal.

[u/malvin77]

Way to go Vice, always a few years behind everyone else with your edgy, break through pieces....

[u/ScoopDat]

This embarrasses me as an American. It wouldn't be so bad if we weren't always telling the world how we are the center of democracy and freedom, yet we have things like this and others like secret courts. Not to mention some of the worst privacy blunders from our top intelligence agencies who are now painted in full light of how they spy on everyone =[