Website to bid on property from various law enforcement seizures

[Michael Meier]

Setup kind of like Ebay and they do have
http://www.propertyroom.com

 

[Rich Stern]

While the above mentioned site is entirely legal, let me state that I have a HUGE moral objection to what they are doing.



In my opinion, one of the greatest threats to personal liberty in this country is asset seizure and forfeiture laws that have grown out of the war on drugs. Your property can be taken from you, despite your never having been convicted of a crime.



Even in the case of legitimate seizures from convicted felons, it's a bad system. Again, in my opinion, you never want to give police a direct monetary incentive to catch criminals. If they don't catch enough criminals, they may be tempted to make people into criminals as substitute targets.



And there are many documented cases of exactly that.



Any proceeds from legitimate seizure and foreiture after convictions should go into the local, state or federal treasury. It should not be used to buy weapons, vehicles, SWAT gear, etc. Our police forces have had a field day with these seizures, leading to well funded but idle SWAT teams all over the country, looking for something to do. And that leads to SWAT teams being used on no-knock raids in the middle of the night, sometimes with disasterous consequences for innocent people.



Just yesterday, I read a case of a SWAT team in Maryland kicking down a door in the middle of the night. The reason given on the warrant? A teenager from that family (now a grown adult living elsewhere), had two misdimeanor busts for posession of marijuana in the proceeding eight years. The department in question reasoned that it meant he was likely to still have pot. They actually put that on the warrant, and a judge signed it. What did they find? Marijuana residue. They charged the father with posession, after arresting him at the muzzles of serveral AR-15s, having busted down the door in the middle of the night.



It's out of hand. And one of the reasons it's out of hand is that these seized and sold assets have funded a lot of SWAT teams that now justify their existence with midnight raids that are flat out dangerous for John Q. Public.



It's "protect and serve," not "protect and serve ourselves."



[/rant]

 

[Rick (ewop) hanks]

AMEN. It seems we are rapidly evolving into a "Police State"

 

[Jim in VA]

I'm a law and order type of guy, but have to agree with Rich on this one. There's also worse cases of abuse than the one Rich mentions. In PG County, Maryland, the SWAT team busted down the door of a local resident, shot his two labs (both were running away to hide) and used cable ties to bind up him and his wife. Conducted a "no knock" warrant because of the fear of evidence being destroyed - NOT because of threat to human life. Here's the kicker - that innocent homeowner was the local town mayor! Had the SWAT team bothered to call the local sheriff or done other simple due diligence, they would have found out that this was not only a law-abiding citizen with no criminal record, but also a respected elected local official known by the sheriff personally.

 

[Jim in VA]

Oops! Double post. My bad.

 

[Bill McElroy]

WTF?!...If I was that "Mayor".....that Chief of Police would be looking for another job today!!:angry:

 

[Marty Klein]

To make an omelet ...

 

[Rich Stern]

Mac, it was the county PD who kicked in that door; they don't answer to that mayor. In that Maryland case, the mayor's house was used as a drop for a bogus Fedex shipment, which contained drugs. The Fedex driver was part of the conspiracy.



We had two recent cases in our county, in a one week span, where the county police force kicked in the wrong door, terrorized innocent families, and in one case, shot the family dog. One was a bad address on the warrant, the other was a bad tip from a lying snitch. Law abiding people sometimes get shot in these raids, either because of poor gun safety, or because the homeowner legitimately believed they were defending their homes from a criminal invasion.



This is not a criticism of rank and file police officers. They do what they are trained and ordered to do (although it would be nice if they objected more vocally to civil rights abuses). This is a government, legal and police management malfunction. And it's dangerous.

 

[Rich Stern]

To make an omelet ...

Marty, I hope that's a joke.



If the government in your community willfully violates the safety and civil rights of you or your fellow citizens, it ain't a broken egg problem. It's more like a salmonella problem.

 

[Michael Meier]

Wow! I was just trying to give you folks a chance to snag some stuff off auction.

 

[Gene B]

Mike, I got the omlette joke.

I do agree that the P.D. shouldn't be the sole recipient of seizure funds.



Gene

 

[William H. (Bill) Barham]

Do a search on Berwyn Heights in Prince George County, MD and you'll get a good feel of what that chithole of a Police Department did.

Unlike Rich, I include the rank and file Officer's because I think the vast majority of them are dirty too. Ok, raid the home of an elected official without notifying his own Police Department, and WITHOUT a warrant they didn't get until the next morning with nothing but sworn too after sworn too lies cited. BOTH of the Mayor's black labs were trying to get the heck out of there. They were scared to death! An autopsy showed that both dogs were shot from behind in their hind quarters or legs first and then shot at extremely close range in the chest and head areas. Something a bunch of total cowards would do..

All of the Officer's and Lead Detectives who were on the scene continue to lie, lie, and then lie some more trying to save their own behinds. Luckily there are enough witnesses and home tapes that refutes every lie that spews from there mouths. There are also a few Officer's who have changed sides so as not to go down with the ship that's going to..



It's a darn shame..



Uncle Billy

 

[Scott Smith]

"Unlike Rich, I include the rank and file Officer's because I think the vast majority of them are dirty too."



NICE...!! I've been doing this for 20 years, and have yet to run across a "dirty" Officer. Walk a mile in my shoes before making an ignorant statement like that. There's bad apples in every tree Billy. I take great pride in what I do and care deeply about the citizens I serve, and I can assure you the vast majority of Officers in this country feel exactly the same way I do. It's a thankless job, that just barely pays the bills with the added perk of being killed at any moment...and I wouldn't trade it for the world..!

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Smitty,



In Unks defense, I don't think he was painting the entire profession with a broad brush. Nor was Rich. Please remember, we live in a different place and it's very easy to get jaded on "our" respective LEO's. We have had LEO's in DC escorting drug shipments, involved in "hits" and numerous other things that most LEO's would find just as revolting as you would. Our local trees have a lot of bad apples per capita. I work with LEO's across the country, local, state and federal and have plenty as friends and you are right it is a noble profession with low pay and high risk. Unfortunately, the bad ones hit the news more than the good.



TOXIC

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

The vast majority are good men and women...its the bad ones that get the press....



Smitty, thanks!

 

[Rich Stern]

Billy, I'm afraid you are going to far.



My local county PD is excellent. Do they make mistakes? Yes. Do they occassionally have bad apple? Yes. But, for the most part, it's a top notch department that takes responsbility for their mistakes and demands accountability on the part of their officers.