Drive with large amounts of cash, police can seize it.

[G.Irish]

The Washington Post did a 3 part series on this issue, but I had heard about it awhile back. Long story short, due to the ar on drugs, police now have the power to seize cash from anyone they stop for even a minor traffic infraction. The police don't have to even charge someone to seize the money It is then incumbent upon the driver to prove the money was not earned illegally, which may take a year or more in court.

Aside from the raw hideousness of it, it's especially relevant to us because sometimes we pay for vehicles with cash. Several of the stories that have come out are people who were going to buy a car, or make some other large purchase with cash and ended up having their money confiscated, then having to fight in court to get their money back.

One of these stops happened in Fairfax County.

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Reading all this makes me think I will use cashier's checks from here on out if I'm gonna buy something cash.

Parts 1 & 2

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<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/07/police-intelligence-targets-cash/">http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/invest ... gets-cash/</a><!-- m -->

[Senor_Taylor]

I wonder what qualifies as a large amount. I regularly have a few hundred on me since I'm a server...

[G.Irish]

The first time I heard about this practice it was a parrish out in Louisiana where they would take a couple of thousand from people they could shake down ($1000-3000). Haven't seen any mention of hundreds of dollars getting taken.

[Kaan]

Make them get a warrant if they are going to search and find money they might take.

[G.Irish]

To get around warrants some of these guys will call a K9 unit then claim it smelled drugs. Even if they don't find any drugs, they can still seize the money and claim that it was going to be or was used in an illegal transaction. Then that person would have to go to court to get their money back.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

[rherold9]

Oh man I would have probably went to jail if a cop would have taken my money on my way trying to buy car parts/cars, etc...

How do they know do they just ask like "hey, how much cash you got on you?"

[BLINGMW]

hmm that's great. :x

*edit* sounds like another good excuse to switch to bitcoin. For FTF vehicle transactions, it's a perfect fit, especially if you can now move in/out of it via paypal....

[JPolen01]

Oh man I would have probably went to jail if a cop would have taken my money on my way trying to buy car parts/cars, etc...

How do they know do they just ask like "hey, how much cash you got on you?"

They seize it during vehicle searches. They don't just roll up and be like "you got any cash? let me have it."

[JPolen01]

Oh man I would have probably went to jail if a cop would have taken my money on my way trying to buy car parts/cars, etc...

How do they know do they just ask like "hey, how much cash you got on you?"

They seize it during vehicle searches. They don't just roll up and be like "you got any cash? let me have it."

[Kaan]

To get around warrants some of these guys will call a K9 unit then claim it smelled drugs. Even if they don't find any drugs, they can still seize the money and claim that it was going to be our was used in an illegal transaction. Then that person would have to go to court to get their money back.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

a half ass lawyer would OWN that county/town/state in court if they claim the K9 smells drugs and none are found... AND that dog would be decommissioned because its no longer credible.

There is a guy in VA Beach that has been arrested 3-4 times for open carrying a firearm (which is legal). Just becasue he was arrested he is getting $100k from the department for each arrest. I cant imagine how much you would get from car/cash siezed for no real reason.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Oh man I would have probably went to jail if a cop would have taken my money on my way trying to buy car parts/cars, etc...

How do they know do they just ask like "hey, how much cash you got on you?"

They seize it during vehicle searches. They don't just roll up and be like "you got any cash? let me have it."

Honestly, I bet some scumbag cop has actually done that. Not as the first question but part of the questioning process for being pulled over.

You have too much faith in law enforcement. :evileye:

[G.Irish]

To get around warrants some of these guys will call a K9 unit then claim it smelled drugs. Even if they don't find any drugs, they can still seize the money and claim that it was going to be our was used in an illegal transaction. Then that person would have to go to court to get their money back.

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

a half ass lawyer would OWN that county/town/state in court if they claim the K9 smells drugs and none are found... AND that dog would be decommissioned because its no longer credible.

There is a guy in VA Beach that has been arrested 3-4 times for open carrying a firearm (which is legal). Just becasue he was arrested he is getting $100k from the department for each arrest. I cant imagine how much you would get from car/cash siezed for no real reason.

It makes me wonder if these cops are targeting people who they think are unlikely to challenge things in court. The other thing is, for amounts of cash under $5000, it would cost the victim more to fight in court than it would in their actually cash. I'm sure a lot of people jus tlet it go because of that, not thinking that they can get their court fees paid for if they win.

[JPolen01]

Lulz. I have little faith in law enforcement these days. I have had friends have money confiscated because "drug" money when there is little to no evidence of a connection. It happens when they find any amount of drugs and any amount of cash. A friend of mine had $15 "confiscated" because it was drug money. Really? The cop didn't walk up to the car and ask him to open his wallet.

If you are dumb enough to tell a cop "I have a large amount of cash on my person" and can't quickly prove how you earned it (paycheck, receipt, etc) if they ask that question, then you are a moron.

[rherold9]

Oh well that makes sense. They don't have a reason to search my vehicle and probable cause is BS. I'll keep telling them to get a warrant before they can search my car

[G.Irish]

If you are dumb enough to tell a cop "I have a large amount of cash on my person" and can't quickly prove how you earned it (paycheck, receipt, etc) if they ask that question, then you are a moron.

Thing is, some of these guys are looking to confiscate cash to fund their police departments so any 'proof' is totally at the discretion of the officer.

A small town in Texas was giving its officers bonuses, paying for festivals in town, and donated money to the church of the DA with all the money they seized from people. The officer would stop someone for some made up infraction like being in the left lane too long, then he'd make up an excuse to search the car. Once he found money (or jewelry) he would threaten the driver into signing over the money. He and the DA actually threatened to put people's children in foster care if they didn't sign over the money.

Long story short, in many states (Virginia being one of them), cops can use seized assets to fund their department, or even the local government. Which of course creates an extremely perverse incentive to seize money even when it is unwarranted.

It's a long read, but this article delves into asset forfeiture on traffic stops, as well as in some other situations (like in Philly where people had their house seized because their grandson bought some weed):

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[davej]

man, why can't more places be like Maryland where they don't have problems like this.

[G.Irish]

man, why can't more places be like Maryland where they don't have problems like this.

I guess as long as you steer clear of the PG County police :lol:

[Kaan]

Lol PG with the busa bikes (from drug arrest) and a helicopter because you had more than 4 motorcycles together... The ones that beat the crap out of you!

Or the small town sheriffs of the pan handle AND the eastern shore ... I'm sure they would love some extra cash. Those small towns make thier money in court though. Stuff that would have big county people in jail for 30 days they fine them for. They get money and don't have a big jail to pay for