The following is part of an article published on www.journalgazette.net from Fort Wayne, Indiana...
"Going 62 in a 50-mph zone, a Jeep barreled west on a slippery, snow-covered Airport Expressway on Valentine’s Day and blew past an Allen County sheriff’s squad car. One traffic stop later, two men inside the Jeep were outside being patted down by officers. They acted nervous, according to a police report. At one point they looked as if they wanted to fight; at another they looked as if they wanted to flee. In the Jeep’s back seat, police found more than $26,000 in cash wrapped in a stocking cap. Though officers held the two men for a short time in squad cars, they were eventually released without charges, save for the driver receiving a citation for driving with a suspended license. And the money? The police kept it. Having that much cash is not a crime, but police have the right to seize it if they suspect it has been used or procured through criminal means. Most of the money seized comes from drug cases and can then be used by various law enforcement agencies."
A little father along in the article it states "How often money is confiscated from people not charged with crimes is hard to determine, Barile said, but his best guess for his department is that it happens “maybe 10 percent of the time” his department performs a seizure."
Maybe 10 percent of the time??? Am I the only one concerned that the government can seize personal property when no laws have been broken and no charges filed, just because someone decided that it "looks suspicious"? I don't care if these guys did look suspicious. If there is not enough evidence to arrest these guys or file charges, how can the cops just sieze their property? Is there no such thing as personal rights anymore? If I get pulled over carrying a couple hundred bucks and the cops think that's more than I should have in my wallet is it ok for them to just take it??? Wow this is a slippery slope...
Here's a link to the full article...
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