Federal Seizure Program that Benefits Cops Called ‘Legal Robbery’

Source    :  Cincinnati
By            :  James Pilcher

Federal seizure program that benefits cops called ‘legal robbery’

Antoinette Lattimore was traveling from Cincinnati to Tucson two years ago to scout out African art, carrying nearly $20,000 in cash for possible purchases. By the time she got to Arizona nearly a week later, she didn’t have that cash. That’s because a Dayton, Ohio, police officer, deputized as a federal drug enforcement agent, seized the money despite the fact that he had no warrant to search her, she was not arrested and was not charged with any crime. “I had no idea something like this could happen in America,” says Lattimore, 44, who lives in North College Hill. “I’ve never been arrested before in my life. I even could prove that it was my money but that didn’t matter.”

But it does happen and it is all completely legal. It’s called civil forfeiture and the 13 local law enforcement agencies that are part of the region’s federal drug task force earned more than $7.5 million in such seizure money in the last five years. Nationally, a total of $4.1 billion in such funds have been seized by local police and federal agents since 2006 using civil forfeiture laws. Very little of that money gets returned to its rightful owners, again despite the fact that many of those who have their assets seized are not arrested for trafficking, dealing or even being in possession of illegal drugs. Instead, most of the money goes back to the departments that seized it. And recourse for those targeted is extremely limited. Why is it legal? Because Congress says so, although some are starting to question the practice. “This is legal robbery … and is completely unconstitutional,” says U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Garrison. “I don’t care what good they can do with that money if it was acquired unconstitutionally.”Yet even as concern and criticism of the system rises due to stories like Lattimore’s – and calls for reform or elimination increase from those such as Massie – the number of these so-called “civil forfeiture” seizures are growing here and across the country, raising significant dollars for local law enforcement agencies.

The annual totals have grown as more members have joined the task force (and share in the proceeds), and those members have become increasingly active. In fact, the amount of seizure monies received so far this year (through July) are already equal to all of last year’s haul. Nearly $2 million of those seized funds went to the police department at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, one of the longest-standing members of the task force and where the Drug Enforcement Agency created a base of operations in 2012. Departments involved in federal task forces and seizures can’t use the recovered funds for their general budgets to pay normal expenses including salaries. But the money can be used to buy equipment and pay for training those agencies might not otherwise be able to afford, for weapons and added protective gear.

The CVG police department, for example, is in the process of buying a $208,000 SWAT van with some of the seized money. Previous CVG purchases have included new bikes. And even though the Justice Department tracks down to the penny which department receives how much and even what they spend it on, federal and local agencies say they do not track how many seizures actually result in arrests of any kind. Local and federal officials defend the practice, saying it is an effective deterrent against drug traffickers and that they are following the law. “The reason there isn’t a one-to-one correlation between seizures and arrests is because a holistic approach is used,” says CVG chief executive officer Candace McGraw. “We follow all the procedures and I think this is an effective tool in deterring money from going into the hands of drug dealers.” In a statement, DEA spokesman Joseph Moses says that “asset forfeiture has the power to disrupt or dismantle criminal organizations” that could only continue with convictions of “specific individuals.”

Read more: cincinnati.com/story/news/your-watchdog/2015/09/10/federal-seizure-program-benefits-cops-called-legal-robbery/71995798/