Don't sign anything in this town

It seems that for years the pissant little police department in Bradenton, Florida has been strongarming people stopped or arrested for minor violations into signing away their rights to any cash or valuables that they had with them, without the benefit of judicial review. The officers apparently pressure people into signing what they call a “Contraband Forfeiture Agreement”, even though no judge has ruled that their property is in fact contraband.

The police department then places the money (some $150,000 to date) into their own personal piggy bank, to spend how they see fit. Nice work if you can get it, huh? Reminds me of “checkpoints” in Third World countries where you have to bribe the police into letting you continue on your way.

From the article, some examples of the crap the police down there have been pulling:

“A Manatee County judge last year found fault with the department's forfeiture procedure in a case where police took more than $7,000 from a woman arrested for a driver's license violation after a traffic stop.”

And,

“The case is rooted in the police seizure of $10,020 from a 20-year-old Orlando man, Delane N. Johnson, in July.Johnson, questioned amid a robbery investigation, was arrested on a rarely used charge of failing to report a business transaction that exceeds $10,000.But prosecutors said it's not a crime to carry that amount of cash, and the state dropped the charge in August.”

And,

“Police stopped Ezequiel Maldonado for a traffic violation in January 2005 and ended up taking $43,551 from him through a contraband agreement. Court records show Maldonado, 47, was not charged with a crime.”

In the above Johnson case, the police maintain that the document they have people sign is legal and binding, and

“Police say it will take a court order to get them to return Johnson's cash.”

So the police operate outside the judicial system when it suits them, and then hide behind the legal system when their hands are caught in the cookie jar. Sweet.

Remember, if you are stopped by the police, you do not have to talk to them, except for identification, and you definitely do not have to sign anything other than a routine traffic citation, in lieu of arrest and traffic court. Do not sign or say anything until you have exercised your right to talk to an attorney. Here’s hoping that the Bradenton Police get their greedy little hands smacked good over this.