Cops love to make money while arresting people. It gives them an incentive to do their jobs. As usual, follow the money.
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Brian Doherty took note yesterday of an incident, caught on citizen video, of a U.S. marshal in South Gate, California, smashing the cell phone camera of another citizen who had been filming some police activity in her neighborhood.
Wondering why a U.S. marshal was part of this police sweep in the first place? Neighbors told ABC 7 there was a police sweep targeting members of the Mongol bike gang in South Gate. The U.S. Marshals recently spent six weeks working with law enforcement agencies across the country to track down arrest scores of wanted fugitives. That project ended early in April, but marshals regularly partner with police in anti-gang activities.
Still, there's more. Partnering with federal law enforcement allows South Gate's police to turn to the Department of Justice's Equitable Sharing Program for assistance in seizing and keeping assets from these raids. And South Gate does so—a lot.
And it also explains why they would need to turn to the feds instead of using California's asset forfeiture system.
California only allows local law enforcement agencies to keep 65 percent of what they seize. The federal sharing program lets agencies keep 80 percent.
Town Where U.S. Marshal Smashed Citizen
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