2023-04-24 14:37:38 -04:00
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<xml><p>Police Forces Keep the Take
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The "loot" that's coming back to police forces all over the nation has
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redefined law-enforcement success. It now has a dollar sign in front of
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it.
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2023-04-27 00:54:09 -04:00
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For nearly eighteen months, undercover <ent type='GPE'>Arizona</ent> State Troopers worked as
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2023-04-24 14:37:38 -04:00
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drug couriers driving nearly 13 tons of marijuana from the <ent type='NORP'>Mexican</ent>
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border to stash houses around <ent type='GPE'>Tucson</ent>. They hoped to catch the <ent type='NORP'>Mexican</ent>
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suppliers and distributors on the <ent type='NORP'>American</ent> side before the dope got on
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the streets. // But they overestimated their ability to control the
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distribution. Almost every ounce was sold the minute they dropped it at
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the houses. // Even though the troopers were responsible for tons of
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drugs getting loose in <ent type='GPE'>Tucson</ent>, the man who supervised the setup still
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believes it was worthwhile. It was "a success from a cost-benefit
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standpoint,'' says former assistant attorney-general <ent type='PERSON'>John Davis</ent>. His
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reasoning: It netted 20 arrests and at least $3 million for the state
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forfeiture fund.
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"That kind of thinking is what frightens me,'' says <ent type='PERSON'>Steve Sherick</ent>, a
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<ent type='GPE'>Tucson</ent> attorney. "The government's thirst for dollars is overcoming any
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long-range view of what it is supposed to be doing, which is fighting
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crime.'' // <ent type='PERSON'>George Terwilliger III</ent>, associate deputy attorney general in
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charge of the U.S. Justice Department's program emphasizes that
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forfeiture does fight crime, and "we're not at all apologetic about the
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fact that we do benefit (financially) from it.'' // In fact, <ent type='PERSON'>Terwilliger</ent>
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wrote about how the forfeiture program financially benefits police
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departments in the 1991 Police Buyer's Guide of Police Chief Magazine.
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Between 1986 and 1990, the U.S. Justice Department generated $1.5
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billion from forfeiture and estimates that it will take in $500 million
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this year, five times the amount it collected in 1986. // <ent type='GPE'>District</ent>
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attorney's offices throughout <ent type='GPE'>Pennsylvania</ent> handled $4.5 million in
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forfeitures last year; <ent type='GPE'>Allegheny County</ent> (ED: <ent type='ORG'>Pgh</ent> is in <ent type='GPE'>Allegheny County</ent>)
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$218000, and the city of <ent type='GPE'>Pittsburgh</ent>, $191000 -- up from $9000 four
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years ago. // Forfeiture pads the smallest towns coffers. In <ent type='GPE'>Lexana</ent>,
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Kan, a <ent type='GPE'>Kansas City</ent> suburb of 29000, "we've got about $250000 moving
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in court right now,'' says narcotic detective <ent type='PERSON'>Don Crohn</ent>. // Despite the
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huge amounts flowing to police departments, there are few public
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accounting procedures. Police who get a cut of the federal forfeiture
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funds must sign a form saying merely they will use it for "law
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enforcement purposes.'' // To <ent type='GPE'>Philadelphia</ent> police that meant new air
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conditioning. In <ent type='GPE'>Warren County</ent>, N.J., it meant use of a forfeited yellow
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Corvette for the chief assistant prosecutor. //
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{At this point in the article there is a picture of three people in
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an empty apartment, with the following caption:
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<ent type='PERSON'>Judy Mulford</ent>, 31, and her 13-year old twins, <ent type='PERSON'>Chris</ent>, left, and
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<ent type='ORG'>Jason</ent>, are down to essentials in their Lake Park, <ent type='GPE'>Fla</ent>., home,
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which the government took in 1989 after claiming her husband,
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<ent type='PERSON'>Joseph</ent>, stored cocaine there. Neither parent has been
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criminally charged, but in April a forfeiture jury said Mrs.
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<ent type='ORG'>Mulford</ent> must forfeit the house she bought herself with an
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insurance settlement. The <ent type='ORG'>Mulford</ent>s have divorced, and she has
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sold most of her belongings to cover legal bills. She's asked
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for a new trial and lives in the near-empty house pending a
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decision. }</p>
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<p>--- Renegade v6-27 Beta
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</p>
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<p>* Origin: Shark's Mouth 313-658-1110 750 MEGS <ent type='PERSON'>Dual Amiga</ent>/<ent type='ORG'>IBM</ent> (23:313/108)</p></xml>
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