CBC Warns Canadians: US Cops Will Pull You Over And Steal Your Money

by Cory Doctorow
Boing Boing
Sep. 17, 2014

62,000 US drivers have been pulled over and had their cash seized by small-town American cops in the past 13 years, under civil forfeiture laws that let them declare anyone to be a probable terrorist and/or drug dealer and take their money without charge or evidence; the only way to get it back is to hire a lawyer and return, over and over again, to the tiny town you were passing through when you were robbed at badgepoint.

The CBC's advice to Canadians: "Avoid long chats if you're pulled over; don't leave litter on the floor of your car, especially energy drink cans; don't use breath/air freshener, they're evidence of drug use; don't be quiet; don't be talkative; don't wear expensive clothes; don't have tinted windows; don't consent to a search."

Because: "on an American roadway with a full wallet, in the eyes of thousands of cash-hungry cops you're a rolling ATM."

News outlets here have reported many such abuses over the years. But the Washington Post's latest investigation exposes money-grabbing as big business.

It involves a nationwide network of enforcement agencies (except in the few states that have banned it) that operates with the help of a vast private intelligence service called "Black Asphalt" (police forces pay an enrolment fee of $19.95). The network uses consultants and trainers who either charge fees or operate on contingency, keeping a percentage of cash seized by their police pupils.

Police forces use the money to finance their departmental budgets, sometimes spending it on luxury vehicles, first-class tickets to conferences, and lavish quarters. They regard the money as rightfully theirs. One prosecutor used seized cash to defend herself against a lawsuit brought by people whose cash she seized.

American shakedown: Police won't charge you, but they'll grab your money [Neil Macdonald/CBC News]