TheNewspaper.com reports that several towns in South Texas are ratcheting up money and property seizures from motorists:
In the South Texas city of San Juan, population 26,200, police have begun seizing ever greater amounts by taking both cash and vehicles from motorists. In 2005, officers collected $4400. This year, however, the force has collected $67,000. Pharr, with a population of 47,000, collected $422,000 last year. McAllen, a bigger city with 106,000 residents, collected $484,000. A federal appeals court ruling this week concluded that driving with a large amount of cash is sufficient justification for police to confiscate it, even if there is no evidence that a crime has been committed.
Guess what these towns are apparently doing with the money?
On a related note, a number of cities and towns across the country have apparently been given between $100,000 and $200,000 in Homeland Security funding to purchase armored personnel carriers for their SWAT teams. If I remember correctly, the Department of Homeland Security was supposed to be a government agency charged with fighting terrorism and responding to natural disasters.
I suppose it’s possible that places like Lake Canyon, Idaho, Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama are high-risk terror targets. But my guess is that their new federally-funded military-grade toys will primarily be used for routine enforcement of drug laws. This quote from an official in Eau Claire seems to confirm my suspicions:
An armored truck isn’t necessary for all situations where SWAT teams are used, Matysik said.
“But because it’s available, we’ll probably use it just to be cautious,” he said.
The militarization of domestic policing continues.
