Atlanta police can take your stuff

Everyone loves money. It’s why so many people do things other than work to obtain it.

Police say a Gwinnett housekeeper extracted at least $500,000 from her elderly employer’s bank account. The alleged evil-doer was caught because the bank contacted authorities.

This story points out why criminals love cash and police hate it. Credit cards, debit cards and checks (remember those?) leave the paper trail needed to prosecute criminal cases.

In the Land of the Free, police are free to take cash and property from citizens without pressing criminal charges if they suspect you are a criminal. The only way to get your stuff back is to hire a lawyer and begin a lengthy, expensive process.

It’s called “asset forfeiture” and police in Georgia get to keep most of what they seize and use it however they want.

Using ill-gotten gains to fight crime seems like a good idea, but some say asset forfeiture got out of control.

The Washington Post says “In 2014, federal law enforcement officers took more property from citizens than burglars did. State and local authorities seized untold millions more.”

After headlines like that, the Obama administration limited how local police could use federal law to seize cash and property.

The Trump administration said this week it is partially restoring the old system, but adding new requirements making it harder for police to seize less than $10,000.

How much have police seized in Georgia and what is the money used for? In 2015, the Georgia Legislature required police agencies to submit annual reports on asset forfeitures.

UGA’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government posts the reports on a website. But agencies seem to use different reporting systems, and some reports are missing. There’s no 2016 report for the Atlanta Police Department. What do we know?

The 2016 DeKalb police report indicates $487,000 was seized under state law, about $1.2 million under federal law, and a balance of $4.5 million remains. The report itemizes what was seized and what the money was spent on, though the descriptions of expenditures are so generic they are nigh useless.

The biggest chunk of change taken was $405,000. The smallest? $81. Lots of cars, cash, guns and jewelry were seized.

The 2015 APD report says $425,000 in assets was seized under state law and $1.5 million was spent, including three payments more than $300,000.

What was the money used for? The report does not say. No federal seizures are listed. Ten cars were taken. Two were sold and eight were kept for departmental use.

Since 2011, APD has seized and kept 29 cars. I wonder where all those cars are today?

Without a better paper trail, we will never know.