After
the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, the government called on police
to become the eyes and ears of homeland security on America’s highways.
Local officers, county deputies and state troopers were encouraged to act more aggressively in searching for suspicious people, drugs and other contraband. The departments of Homeland Security and Justice spent millions on police training.
Local officers, county deputies and state troopers were encouraged to act more aggressively in searching for suspicious people, drugs and other contraband. The departments of Homeland Security and Justice spent millions on police training.
ABOVE: : Video images from YouTube, Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and Seward County Sheriff’s Office.
The effort succeeded, but it had an impact that has been largely
hidden from public view: the spread of an aggressive brand of policing
that has spurred the seizure of hundreds of millions of dollars in cash
from motorists and others not charged with crimes, a Washington Post
investigation found. Thousands of people have been forced to fight legal
battles that can last more than a year to get their money back.
Stop and Seize: In recent years,
thousands of people have had cash confiscated by police without being
charged with crimes. The Post looks at the police culture behind the
seizures and the people who were forced to fight the government to get
their money back.
Part 2: One training firm started a private intelligence-sharing network and helped shape law enforcement nationwide.
Part 3: Motorists caught up in the seizures talk about the experience and the legal battles that sometimes took more than a year.
Part 4: Police agencies nationwide routinely buy vehicles and weapons with money and property seized under federal civil forfeiture law from people who were not charged with a crime.
Chat transcript: The reporters behind “Stop and Seize” answered your readers’ about the investigative series.
Part 2: One training firm started a private intelligence-sharing network and helped shape law enforcement nationwide.
Part 3: Motorists caught up in the seizures talk about the experience and the legal battles that sometimes took more than a year.
Part 4: Police agencies nationwide routinely buy vehicles and weapons with money and property seized under federal civil forfeiture law from people who were not charged with a crime.
Chat transcript: The reporters behind “Stop and Seize” answered your readers’ about the investigative series.
Behind the rise in seizures is a little-known cottage industry of
private police-training firms that teach the techniques of “highway
interdiction” to departments across the country.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/stop-and-seize/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/stop-and-seize/
