Cops are behind highway robberies totaling millions of dollars per year

An article published by Forbes reported that law enforcement agencies around the country are legally robbing citizens of millions of dollars a year travelling on its highways. The victims of this widespread money scheme were not guilty of any crimes and even upon evidence of their innocence, the law enforcement agencies keep the cash found in vehicles of people they had stopped.

Among the victims of this money scheme, include a man in Nevada who was robbed of $50,000 in cash and cashier’s checks he won from a casino who was pulled over for travelling 3 miles over the speed limit. A man travelling the highway in Virginia was robbed of $28,500 by a Virginia State Police officer who did not care that the money consisted of donations to the church for which the victim was the church secretary. There were many more examples cited.

Victims usually do not recover their money or property because laws related to civil forfeiture that allows law enforcement agencies to keep the loot from these “legal” robberies. The money stays within the department just seizures from those allegedly involved in drug activity and it all goes into the money pot that the officers can withdraw from in the form of overtime pay. You can be sure that undocumented immigrants are among the victims and easy targets because of their legal status.

Two of the victims have filed lawsuits on constitutional grounds citing that the 4th Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.