Police in tiny Alabama town suck drivers into legal ‘black hole’

Re:Police in tiny Alabama town suck drivers into legal ‘blac... by 34679 on Thursday January 20, 2022 @05:04PM (#30015793)

Missouri passed a law that required assets seized by the police to go to the education budget. Police responded by calling in the feds to do the seizing, who then give a kickback to the police. The federal government's name for this program is "Equitable Sharing"

Guide to Equitable Sharing for State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement: https://www.justice.gov/criminal-afmls/file/794696/download

St. Charles, Missouri police have been coercing drivers into signing over millions of dollars of their assets without convictions or even charges:

https://reason.com/2019/12/30/missouri-cops-used-federal-loo...

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Re:Police in tiny Alabama town suck drivers into legal ‘blac... by leetcrew on Thursday January 20, 2022 @05:09PM (#30015855)

the impact of these sorts of redirections is limited. in Maryland, casino revenue ostensibly funds schools. but if casino revenue drops for some reason (eg, covid), the deficit is made up elsewhere. funding for important state organs is always somewhat fungible.

if for some reason the revenue can't be made up elsewhere and the schools come to depend on revenue from fines/seizures, that still leaves the police department with a lot of leverage.

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