End Asset Forfeiture (Policing for Profit)

“If elected, I will sponsor and work diligently to pass legislation to prohibit the state and local governments from freezing or taking citizens’ assets without (1) charging the alleged offender with a crime and (2) proving property is subject to forfeiture by ‘clear and convincing’ evidence. No assets seized by government may be retained by any department for its own use; instead, they must be transferred to the general fund.”

Benefits of ending asset forfeiture (“policing for profit”)

• Today, police can take possession of your car, your home, your bank account, and anything else you own when suspected of a crime.
• Seizing of citizens’ assets has become so widespread that today, police take more property from American citizens (over $5 billion every year) than thieves do.
• Without arresting you, much less charging you with a crime or proving your guilt, they can seize your possessions, forcing you to get a lawyer. You’re guilty until proven innocent.
• The legal cost of recovering your assets can easily run higher than the value of the property that the police confiscated, forcing you to accept the loss, even if you did nothing wrong.
• In a practice dubbed policing for profit, police departments that seize assets are permitted to keep the spoils. This gives cops a perverse incentive to take your property without due process.
• Many police departments depend on seizing your assets to fund their budgets.
• Seventeen states require clear and convincing evidence, or impose a higher standard, to seize property. New Mexico has completely outlawed asset forfeiture. All other states should do the same.
• Ending asset forfeiture will prevent police officers and their superiors from being tempted to seize on the assets of citizens without due process.
• Ending asset forfeiture will restore justice.