> My dimming memory tells me that starting in the early 80's
> a lot of PDs started financing themselves from their new
> ability to seize property, at al. in the process of the
> drug war. No?
I seriously doubt anyone is "financing themselves" on the basis of drug seizure money. They get to buy some toys, and usually it's stuff that the locals would never approve of (armored personel carriers, automatic rifles, etc.), but I've never heard of pensions or health insurance -- let alone salaries -- being paid for by asset seizure. The flashiest item involved in that thing is the D.A.R.E Corvettes you see around. They are worth more in marketing value than they are to the used car market.
> And the cost of tickets for minor infractions has doubled in
> the last three years...."coinciding" with the loss of tax
> revenue and fed $$ following the crash.
To be sure: cutting taxes makes this kind of thing more significant, but again: if you win the welfare-cheat contest ... you're still on welfare. For the record, I'm against such "use taxes" ... but you have to admit that state and local governments are in a bind.
Here's something:
"Seizures and the payouts to locals have been growing -
especially in Georgia. Agencies in the state last year
got nearly $30 million, up from $28.6 million in 2010
and $25 million in 2009, and double the amounts of a decade ago."
Ok, so $30M sounds like a lot of money. Is it? How much of a dent does it make in the actual cost of running police departments state-wide? My guess is that it's a trickle.
(Braselton, Georgia, the town highlighted in the above article, sounded familiar, so I poked around. This is the place that Kim Bassinger bought in 1989 for $20 but had to sell a few years later for $1M. Who knows *what* those people are up to.)
/jordan