The forfeiture racket.

• Author: Wooldridge, Howard
• Position: Letter to the editor

As a police officer and property room manager at a small Michigan police department, I can heartily agree with Radley Balko's excellent essay on the forfeiture issue ("The Forfeiture Racket," February).When we went to a seminar around 1986 on how to seize money, cars, and houses, the instructor heavily emphasized that the presence of drugs was not needed, just cash. When command and our local prosecutor in Clinton County figured out this was a cash cow, officers were encouraged to spend more time looking for drugs--which meant less time for the deadly DUI and reckless drivers.

The last 25 years of police action enforcing drug prohibition has undermined public safety and left a large stain on our professional image. Despite that, money talks and we continue to steal from citizens who deserve better. Please urge your politicians to repeal all drug prohibition laws.

Det. Howard Wooldridge (retired)

Washington, DC

Instead of protecting the public, bandits with badges are out to rob whomever they can, however they can. The forfeiture laws have turned many police departments into dens of thieves.

One change in the forfeiture statutes can remedy much of the mischief. Allowing trials to determine whether a seizure is legitimate will force crooked cops to stop stealing.

Ralph Givens

Daly City, CA

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