Iowa Troopers Steal $100,000 in Poker Winnings From Two Players Driving Through the State

The Des Moines Register highlights an Iowa forfeiture case, the subject of a federal lawsuit filed this week, in which state troopers took $100,000 in winnings from two California poker players traveling through the state on their way back from a World Series of Poker event in Joliet, Illinois.

Cops can always find an excuse to stop you. On the morning of April 15, 2013, Trooper Justin Simmons, who is part of an "interdiction team" that looks for contraband and money to seize, pulled over William Davis and John Newmer�zhycky, who were traveling west on Interstate 80 in a rental car, a red Nissan Altima. Simmons later said he had received a vague tip from "an Illinois law enforcement officer" to be on the lookout for a red car, but he did not know why. Obviously that did not rise to the level of reasonable suspicion, which Simmons needed to stop the car. So instead he claimed that he pulled Davis and Newmer�zhycky over because Newmer�zhycky, who was driving, failed to signal as he passed a black SUV. But as can be seen in the video recorded by Simmons' dashcam (starting around the 00:28 mark), Newmer�zhycky did signal. In the absence of such contrary evidence, cops are free to invent minor traffic infractions to justify a stop they want to conduct for other reasons. Although it does not condone such prevarication, the Supreme Court has said any valid legal reason makes a stop constitutional, even if it's a pretext for a more ambitious investigation. The Register reports that its "review of 22,000 warnings and citations given by the [interdiction] teams from 2008 to 2012 showed that 86 percent went to non-Iowans." Because Iowans are much better drivers, of course.

http://reason.com/blog/2014/10/01/iowa-troopers-steal-100000-in-poker-winn

http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/8/6120971/cops-are-seizing-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars-from-drivers-and

Cops are seizing hundreds of millions of dollars from drivers and bragging about it in chat rooms

This weekend, The Washington Post published a deeply reported look at "highway interdiction," a controversial tactic that has allowed police to seize hundreds of millions of dollars from motorists without formally charging anyone with a crime. Typically, police will stop a driver under suspicion of drug trafficking, seize their cash as evidence, and refuse to return it without a legal challenge. Only one in six seizures were challenged, typically because of the high cost of legal assistance.

But the legal justification is only part of the practice. As private consultants sought to expand the practice, they turned to surprisingly familiar methods, including an encrypted chat room where officers could brag about their latest hauls, share tactics, and spread private information about juicy targets passing through other jurisdictions. Known as the Black Asphalt Electronic Networking and Notification System, the chat room has over 25,000 members spread across the country, most of whom are law enforcement officers. Until recently, it was hosted at a DEA intelligence center, but has never received any official government oversight. Within the system, officers are encouraged to brag about particularly big hauls, and the member with the highest seizure total at the end of the year is dubbed a "Royal Knight."

In other words, it's Reddit for the highway interdiction, turning an otherwise sketchy practice into a game of online oneupmanship. If highway cops aren't encouraged to make seizures within their department, they can get that encouragement online, with plenty of other interdiction-happy cops cheering them on. And the encouragement works: seizures have more than tripled since 2000. Any dissenting voices, worried about the legal or moral implications of grabbing cash based on the thinnest tissue of reasonable suspicion, are kept out of the conversation entirely.

sounds pretty dark...really


but Maybe I should call DPS

texas dept. of public safety

and see if thsy could hire a

few of these guys and start "profiling"

the drug cartels runnin up

and down the road...ya can't miss em

If I can spot em; and I do... every time...

every weekday trip to Oklahoma...

MAN~~~~It Would Be a PICNIC For These Guys!!!

Like shooting fish in a barrel....

just think, they could have a "Real"

rewarding job that they could really enjoy,

have Bragging rights too... They would be Hero's

instead of Highwaymen... "thats cowboy for robbers".

Be much better than picking on

Hard Workin, Honest, Taxpayin, American Citizens..

not a gambler but if you win at casino here

they tax you at the window and give you a

receipt.

whooo hoooo... rollin, rollin, rollin