There have been 61,998 cash seizures made on highways and elsewhere since 9/11 without search warrants or indictments through the Equitable Sharing Program, totaling more than $2.5 billion. State and local authorities kept more than $1.7 billion of that while Justice, Homeland Security and other federal agencies received $800 million. Half of the seizures were below $8,800.
Sounds like going to a Third-World country. American police are targeting their northern neighbors, according to a travel warning from the Canadian government. State and federal law enforcement officers are reportedly shaking down Canadians visiting the US, illegally confiscating legally carried cash. Over 61,000 of these incidents have occurred since 9/11, resulting in $2.5 billion being seized, according to The Washington Post.
Equitable Sharing Program..... What a nice sounding name for something .... Kinda like affordable health care... GTSP (Government thieves and scoundrel program) is what it should have been called.
LAS VEGAS -- A lawsuit has been filed against the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department alleging deputies there are unlawfully seizing cash from motorists traveling on I-80 toward California.
One of the questionable stops was captured on dash-cam video.
Deputy Lee Dove can be observed and heard on the video as he talks with a driver he pulled over.
Deputy Lee Dove: "I just smelled weed. I know I did. I know I smelled weed."
The Humboldt County deputy never finds weed in the car he's searching after a traffic stop on I-80, but he does find $50,000 in cash and $10,000 in cashiers checks.
Dove is suspicious because the driver gave him conflicting answers to his questions and he tells the driver he's confiscating the cash.
Deputy Dove: "Everyday I do this. It's all I do for a living. It's drug interdiction and I get money."
Deputy Dove doesn't arrest or even cite the driver, but he offers him a deal. The driver can sign a release abandoning the cash and keep the cashiers checks and go on his way.
Nearly nine out of ten bills circulating in the U.S. and its northern neighbor are tainted with cocaine, according to what's being called the most definitive research to date on the subject.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_v._Harris#False_alerts_in_the_field This is probably a very good reason why cops so vehemently support the 'war on drugs', it's a very convenient excuse for LEO/government agency to break the law and justify it; just look at some of the stories of DEA and CIA dealing drugs. The good news is ......http://www.offthegridnews.com/2014/04/08/police-illegally-seize-50000-from-mans-casino-winnings-during-routine-traffic-stop/
To get his money back, Nguyen had to sue Humboldt County, Dove and Sheriff Ed Kilgore, and the county eventually settled with Nguyen for $50,000 and $10,000 in attorney’s fees. In the suit, Ohlson contended that Dove had violated Nguyen’s Fourth Amendment rights. The Fourth Amendment bans unreasonable search and seizure
Previously, citizens could refuse an officer’s request to search a vehicle. In most cases, the officer would then need a warrant — signed by a judge — to conduct the search. That’s no longer the case, according to the opinion written by Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery. The ruling, passed on a 4-2 vote, was made in regard to an appeal from a 2010 vehicle stop in Philadelphia. Local police and legal professionals are calling the opinion “big news.”
I am beginning to think people have been trained by the government to fear traveling with cash. The government doesn't want this because they can't track the money flow with people and their cash asset. You shouldn't fear traveling with cash unless it is federal or local law enforcement, I don't see the news filled with criminals confiscating cash from unsuspecting citizens.
Cash is considered a tangible asset, are you now afraid to drive your car? How many of us wear jewelry, drive cars, take expenseive firearms to the range to shoot, take your laptop with info you could never replace (All tangible assets) when we travel or go somewhere? Why doesn't law enforcement confiscate those? Get in a law suit and you will see right away what they are worth, the IRS can sure place a value on them before sale. Its the government to fear while having cash.
I am beginning to think people have been trained by the government to fear traveling with cash. The government doesn't want this because they can't track the money flow with people and their cash asset. You shouldn't fear traveling with cash unless it is federal or local law enforcement, I don't see the news filled with criminals confiscating cash from unsuspecting citizens.
Cash is considered a tangible asset, are you now afraid to drive your car? How many of us wear jewelry, drive cars, take expenseive firearms to the range to shoot, take your laptop with info you could never replace (All tangible assets) when we travel or go somewhere? Why doesn't law enforcement confiscate those? Get in a law suit and you will see right away what they are worth, the IRS can sure place a value on them before sale. Its the government to fear while having cash.
You know one of the worst examples I've heard related to this is with truckers. A company driver won't likely have more than pocket money and toll cash (if they don't have auto-pay for whatever state tolls already). No biggy and nothing to see here...move along now.
An Owner-Operator tho? Hell.. I had a few thousand on me as a regular thing, every day I was driving with my own truck. It isn't about feeling special, its about not being screwed for fuel prices. Using plastic adds transaction fees. Not a BIG deal at the local gas station, but it adds up FAST when you're fueling 150-350 gallons of diesel, each stop, at todays prices...or even yesterday's lower ones.
Google up truckers having their cash seized and see how far this nutty crap goes. It isn't real common and MOST cops know better. Still.. Louisiana in particular has seen some rather high dollar examples of this come to light in recent years.
It's Robbery. Robbery by another name, but still Robbery. ESPECIALLY when the departments and sometimes the specific unit seizing the money DIRECTLY AND PERSONALLY benefits from the total sum taken.