Pubdate: Sun, 24 Aug 2003
Source: St. Petersburg Times (FL)
Copyright: 2003 St. Petersburg Times
Contact:  http://www.sptimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/419
Author: Larry Fox, Largo
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v03/n1235/a05.html?1347

IT'S ALL ABOUT REVENUE

Re: Police too addicted to lure of easy money, by Robyn Blumner.

Robyn Blumner hits the nail on the head with her column highlighting some 
of the greed spread throughout the nation's police organizations via use of 
the forfeiture of assets system. In truth, it is more of a spoils system. 
Unfortunately, Blumner's column touches on only the tip of the iceberg. New 
sources of revenue are constantly sought - witness the recent trend of 
police writing tickets for failure to use seat belts when no other offense 
has been committed. It has nothing to do with saving lives. It's all about 
revenue.

Police constantly tweak crime statistics to justify higher budgets and 
additional officers. This includes, in many cases, charging a suspect with 
every possible offense in the attempt to make him or her look like the 
worst type of criminal, when the act might have been very minor in nature. 
All of this when crime is at a 30-year low.

At the Probation Department level, in most states, when a felon has served 
his time in prison, he is hit with a large bill. The returning former 
inmate is placed in debt by the justice system without a job, and little 
chance of getting one due to his conviction. If he is unable to pay, he is 
threatened with violation of his probation. It is a never-ending scheme.

I hope Blumner will continue to shed light on what is going on in our 
justice system. The system can and should be changed, and if her columns 
prod enough people to write to their legislators, it will be changed.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom