CRIME: FREE MONEY

If there were any doubts about the need to reform asset seizures, surely
they were removed when a Georgia sheriff's department purchased a $93,000
sports car with money taken from suspected drug offenders.

Camden County officers say they have confiscated $14 million in 15 years,
using most of it for patrol cars and other crime-fighting equipment. They
say the car, a sleek Dodge Viper capable of 200 miles an hour, is valuable
because it gets young people's attention when officers want to talk to them
about avoiding drugs and alcohol.

Surely there is a less expensive way to get the attention of teenagers. A
Britney Spears video maybe?

An officer says the car didn't cost the taxpayers anything. But,
indirectly, it did. If it hadn't been spent on the car, that money could
have been used for real crime-fighting equipment that now will have to be
funded by the public.

Seizures really should be illegal. It's wrong to give law enforcement the
power to seize money, even from crooks.

If money is taken, it should be turned over to the courts -- which then
should decide whether to return it, award it as part of the punishment to
the county's general fund or, preferably, give it to charity.

The Viper may be a nice perk for the officers who get to drive it, but it's
a poor investment in crime prevention.