This is a common way of bypassing the courts. US police departments have gradually ratcheted up the amount of punishment they can inflict on people without court consent, with a combination of civil forfeiture, pre-trial detainment and destruction of property. They get away with it because the courts have neither the will nor the resources to push back effectively. The practical result has been a loss of faith in the US criminal justice system, which is a threat to the innocent, not a defender of it.