Not sure how I feel 'bout this...

[Sal Picante]

You may have heard of civil asset forfeiture.
That's where police can seize your property and cash without first proving you committed a crime; without a warrant and without arresting you, as long as they suspect that your property is somehow tied to a crime.
Now, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol has a device that also allows them to seize money in your bank account or on prepaid cards.
It's called an ERAD, or Electronic Recovery and Access to Data machine, and state police began using 16 of them last month.

http://bit.ly/1reUg6P

[Chance]

This is one of those cases where I've no doubt the police have a valid reason for wanting this capability. However, the potential for misuse, either intentional or unintentional, but especially unintentional, seems a little too high. I'd like some more context on why they feel this capability is necessary.

[HCM]

Bulk pre-paid have been gaining popularity as a way to launder and transport funds for several years now but I don't get the bank account access thing. The whole point of using pre loaded cards for illicit activity is they are not tied to bank accounts.

[Totem Polar]

... I don't get the bank account access thing...

^^^Ask Willie Sutton Jr.

[Dagga Boy]

I have found forfeit seizure to be a Great thing.......that is so good it is almost guaranteed to be abused be a whole bunch of folks in LE, including those who would not normally have an inkling towards poor ethics, and why I am only in favor of it if ordered by a judge as part of sentencing. I am all for some means of freezing assests for those arrested for specific crimes, but not the way things are being done right now.

[voodoo_man]

It is my experience that the general, uneducated, public has no working knowledge of asset forfeiture and how it is applied by LE. Especially on a state and a local level. It not only makes complete sense but is almost required because if it didn't exist then drug dealers and other criminals may be able to retain their Ill gotten gains, which is unacceptable.

The media, as always, leaves things out and doesn't even remotely cover a topic correctly, especially like this type because it wouldn't sell. I'm sure that PD has plenty of valid reasons to do what they are doing.

[HCM]

It is my experience that the general, uneducated, public has no working knowledge of asset forfeiture and how it is applied by LE. Especially on a state and a local level. It not only makes complete sense but is almost required because if it didn't exist then drug dealers and other criminals may be able to retain their Ill gotten gains, which is unacceptable.

The media, as always, leaves things out and doesn't even remotely cover a topic correctly, especially like this type because it wouldn't sell. I'm sure that PD has plenty of valid reasons to do what they are doing.

I understand your point but asset forfeiture as applied in your experience (and mine) and as practiced in other jurisdictions can be two very different things.

There are still plenty of legitimate people who deal in cash and asset forfeiture abuse is real.

From an LE perspective, it's very much one of those "this is why we can't have nice things" issues.

[voodoo_man]

I understand your point but asset forfeiture as applied in your experience (and mine) and as practiced in other jurisdictions can be two very different things.

There are still plenty of legitimate people who deal in cash and asset forfeiture abuse is real.

From an LE perspective, it's very much one of those "this is why we can't have nice things" issues.

Then the FBI should crush them.

I have zero tolerance for LE abusing a system that works wonders.

[secondstoryguy]

Conspiracy theorist and anti-cop folk are going crazy over this and it's idiotic. It's becoming extremely common for traffickers to use pre-paid cards to move cash as as a means to conduct business. We are even seeing street level dealers using smartphone card readers to conduct transactions. It's a natural progression of the criminal element in a cashless society. This is the reason this thing is being utilized.

[SansSouci]

This is one of those cases where I've no doubt the police have a valid reason for wanting this capability. However, the potential for misuse, either intentional or unintentional, but especially unintentional, seems a little too high. I'd like some more context on why they feel this capability is necessary.

Cops have exemplary integrity. However, a cop's intent is not controlling. The United States Constitution is controlling, specifically the Fifth Amendment:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Thus, if our constitution is still valid, and I'm not sure it is, no person shall be deprived of his property without due process of law. The legal and right way to seize a person's property as fruits of a crime is to get a warrant.

While I might be one of a dwindling population of conservatives, the essence of that ideology is that our constitution is inviolate and the supreme law of the land. I feel more uneasy every day when I see our constitution flagrantly violated.

I don't trust the supreme court to mete out justice. There's a reason why Democratic presidents choose liberal justices. They don't want justice. They want political ideology.

We need congress to start impeaching activist justices. It can start with Sotomayor.