Bandits with Badges - Todd Strandberg - http://www.raptureready.com/rap16.html
After the 9/11 terror attacks, a series of bills were passed by Congress that made security a priority over civil liberty. The Department of Homeland Security encourages city and state police forces to aggressively search motorists for drugs, weapons, and other contraband.
This new policy has given rise to an escalating trend in law enforcement known as "civil forfeiture." In a nutshell, the practice involves the stealing of items from people-ranging from cash, cars, even homes-based merely on suspicion. Your property is seen as "guilty until you prove it innocent."
In order to justify a seizer, police typically pull drivers over for minor traffic infractions. During the stop, they look for "indicators" of suspicious criminal activity. Tinted windows, air fresheners, trash in the car, a profusion of energy drinks, a driver who is too talkative or too quiet, and signs of nervousness have all been considered indicators. So basically anything can be used as a reason.
This absurdity reminds me of a story told by comedian, Ron White, who once had his private jet searched by federal agents using a drug dog. Here is his description of the incident:
"Okay, we just wanna let the drug dog walk by it a couple times." I said, "Fine." And the drug dog walks by a couple times, and the guy goes, "Well, the dog gave us the signal that there are drugs on the plane." And I was like, "No, he didn't! That dog didn't do anything. I was staring straight at it! He didn't wink, blink, woof or paw. What's his signal, a blank stare?"
Civil forfeiture was first used against pirates as a way to take possession of contraband goods, despite the fact that the ships' owners in many cases were located thousands of miles away and couldn't be easily prosecuted. Forfeiture in America was uncommon until 1984, when Congress passed the Comprehensive Crime Control Act. It established a special fund that turned over proceeds from forfeitures to the same law-enforcement agencies that conducted the raids.
What started out as a reasonable way to find ill-gotten goods has now become a gigantic organized crime ring for some cities. It makes sense to impound a large pile of cash that is right next to 100 kilos of cocaine. We've descended to the law of the jungle when police are allowed to use to nation's highways as their own hunting grounds:
A 55-year-old Chinese American restaurateur from Georgia was pulled over for minor speeding on Interstate 10 in Alabama and detained for nearly two hours. He was carrying $75,000 raised from relatives to buy a Chinese restaurant in Lake Charles, La. He got back his money ten months later but only after spending thousands of dollars on a lawyer and losing out on the restaurant deal.
A 40-year-old Hispanic carpenter from New Jersey was stopped on Interstate 95 in Virginia for having tinted windows. Police said he appeared nervous and consented to a search. They took $18,000 that he said was meant to buy a used car. He had to hire a lawyer to get back his money.
Mandrel Stuart, a 35-year-old African American owner of a small barbecue restaurant in Staunton, Va., was stunned when police took $17,550 from him during a stop in 2012 for a minor traffic infraction on Interstate 66 in Fairfax. He rejected a settlement with the government for half of his money and demanded a jury trial. He eventually got his money back but lost his business because he didn't have the cash to pay his overhead. [1]
It greatly infuriates me that there has not been an overwhelming public outcry against this devious behavior. Most people seem to think that this type of robbery only happens to individuals who are foolish enough to have large sums of money in their cars. If law enforcement is allowed to run wild, everyone is eventually at risk.
The key reason why the Arab Spring caused the citizens of several Arab countries to turn to radical Islamic parties is because the police were acting like the mafia. The movement started in Tunisia, when a street vendor set himself on fire after the police confiscated his goods for not paying extortion money. Cab drivers in many Arab cities have to pay at least half their income to cops.
A large percentage of the people in America who have their property seized without cause are minorities. Because they often lack the means to defend themselves, they are seen as easy targets. This practice has contributed to the rapid breakdown in the trust between the black community and law enforcement. The situation in Ferguson, Missouri is a sign of this growing mistrust.
It is obvious that a law needs to be passed that requires a criminal conviction before the government can forfeit property. The question is this: Do we have enough people who care about justice to take action?
The advantage of being a Christian is that you have a treasure that no man can steal. In heaven, there are no security alarms. What you do for the kingdom of God is safe and guarded 24/7 by the Lord Himself.
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:19-21).
Endnotes
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