Man Shot By Cops Discusses His Acquittal, Freedom & the Current Police State of America: Vincent Arias

Yet another reason we all should be fighting back along the economic front. For those of you wearing badges that doubt or poo poo my idea read this:

MILL CREEK, Wash.—A drug task force in Washington’s Snohomish County has historically been funded in part by cash, cars, houses and other assets seized from marijuana purveyors. But with recreational pot becoming legal in the state, this funding is going up in smoke.

Snohomish’s 22-officer drug-fighting operation, one of 19 such task forces in the state, brought in about $200,000 from forfeitures in marijuana cases in 2012—15% of its funding that year; the haul has exceeded $1 million in years past. The task force has a piece of land, seized from a pot grower, where it stores seized vehicles awaiting auction and trims with a riding mower confiscated in a drug bust.

The county’s task force has already slashed its projected funding for this year by more than 15%, partially because of a decline in revenue from asset forfeitures in pot cases, said task force Commander Pat Slack. That will mean less money for overtime, training and new equipment, said Mr. Slack, a vocal opponent of legalization.

With marijuana legalized for those at least 21 years old in Washington later this year and in Colorado as of Jan. 1, law-enforcement agencies in those states expect to lose millions in revenue gained from assets seized from growers and dealers.

Those funds may be difficult to recoup. In Washington, at least, tax money from marijuana sales won’t go to law enforcement. That means that cuts may be coming, particularly for interagency drug task forces, which don’t have the same dedicated sources of funding that city police departments do.

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Washington residents voted to earmark tax revenue from legal pot sales to education, health care, research and substance-abuse prevention, but not to law enforcement. Colorado lawmakers can choose to spend some of the money on law enforcement, according to Daria Serna, a spokeswoman from that state’s department of revenue.

Supporters of legalization say steering law enforcement away from marijuana will allow police to focus on more serious crimes.

Alison Holcomb, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who was lead author of the Washington pot-legalization ballot measure, said no taxes were earmarked for law enforcement “in part because we’re making this substance legal. It doesn’t make sense there would be an increased need for law enforcement.”

Law-enforcement officials counter there will still be a need to police such things as driving while high, underage marijuana consumption and unlicensed growing facilities.

Ms. Holcomb said forfeiture laws have encouraged law enforcement to chase after assets instead of crime. Opponents of legalization and narcotics officers counter that forfeiture is an important tool for fighting drug kingpins, and doesn’t determine which cases get investigated.

Nationally, assets forfeited in marijuana cases from 2002 through 2012 accounted for $1 billion of the $6.5 billion from all drug busts, according to data from the Justice Department on forfeitures processed by the federal government for local and federal law enforcement. Assets can be seized under federal or state law, depending on the situation.

In Washington, forfeitures from pot cases processed by the federal government totaled $18.6 million from 2002 through 2012. Local law enforcement generated an additional $18 million in funding from forfeitures under state law in all types of drug cases in the five years ended in 2012, according to the state treasurer. Roughly one-third to one-half of that revenue typically comes from pot cases, according to a review of agencies’ records.

In Colorado, forfeitures from pot cases processed by the federal government totaled nearly $18 million over the decade ended in 2012.

These sums are small fractions of the budgets for all law-enforcement agencies in these states. But the funds have become an important source of revenue, particularly for drug task forces, many of which otherwise rely on federal grants, forfeitures from other drug cases, and labor costs borne by local police agencies with officers on the task forces.

Other types of drug cases won’t automatically fill the void. Marijuana is easier than other drugs for police to spot—because of its distinct odor and the permanence of growing operations—and to parlay into property seizures.

“The advantage with marijuana is that it’s one location, and you can make a lot money off of one grow,” said Matthew York, a Seattle attorney who handled forfeiture cases for two separate drug task forces in the area. “These other drug dealers, they make a lot of money, but they’re harder to find.”

Changes are already being felt. Narcotics investigators in both states say they are focusing more on the heroin trade, and task forces are seeing fewer asset forfeitures from marijuana cases as they pursue fewer pot investigations.

The U.S. Department of Justice has pledged a hands-off approach, though marijuana is still illegal under federal law.

Mike Cooke, commander of the Clark County task force in Washington, said he expected a drop in “forfeitures related to marijuana” but he added, “There is plenty of heroin and cocaine to keep us busy.”

Tom Gorman, director of the Rocky Mountain High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area program in Denver, said growers and sellers who flout state law could be targeted—but just discovering pot grows won’t lead to forfeitures anymore.

“If they’re diverting or selling marijuana out of state, unless you catch them at it, they’re legal operations, so you’re not going to seize their property.”

Now, I don’t agree with the direction that these States have taken, but it isn’t up to me. The fine citizens of those States made that decision. I am merely pointing out that just this aspect alone will hit the drug task force’s budgets by ’bout 15%. Imagine what 40% of the population curtailing their spending would do to the City, county, State, and Fed receipts. Just sayin’.

I wouldn’t call you dumb, Certain. Ignorant, maybe, but not dumb. Look, whether the citizenry make the economic decision themselves or the current voracious government does it for them makes no difference to me. The decline in spending is already happening (and will get worse, I am predicting the worst to happen between the 4th and Halloween). The folks wearing the badges and their cohorts in government service are about to get a real education in how economics works. Government doesn’t go door to door selling cookies like the girl scouts do to fund their activities. They don’t write a book and shill on the radio for folks to buy it for the money to fill their coffers. The government relies on a percentage of the spending and earning the peeps participate in the course of the year. All I’m sayin’ is for folks to not just nudge, but SHOVE this corrupt government structure over the cliff, before the corrupt entity shoves us over first.

What can folks stop spending on, you ask? Going to the movies, eating out, vacations, car pool rather than fill the tank, buy a solar panel or two, build your own wind generator, forego some fashionable clothing, There are a myriad of ways, and I think folks are going to get pushed there by this Administration, whether they choose to or not.

So…Alvin’s idea of “sticking it to the man” is to hurt the entire Eco,y, to put his neighbors out of work. What he doesn’t get is the people are moving to areas where the economy is good and growing. One of the things that is government efforts toads development / re-development. One of the keys to that…low crime rate and a “feeling of security”. There are certainly places that have slashed police/fire/parks….and those places have seen an exodus of residents.

I find it quite funny that you claim to be a right winger when everything you say is straight socialism.

Sorry, JQP, that last post should have been directed at t. I just assumed you and I were conversing.

He’s shot in 2004, hides until he’s turned in by his wife, arrested and sits 2 years awaiting trial, and then acquitted in 2006. What? No civil suit? No protesting? Where’s the rest of the story?

t. There is only one, small, intsy teensy tiny fly in your ointment. Lean in closer as I don’t want anyone to hear this. I don’t want you to be embarrassed by this revelation. …………You ready?………….Where does the big all-powerful government that you worship so dearly get the money it needs to do all of these magnificent and magnanimous things? You see, the dirty little secret that no one is talking about is that WE pay for whatever example you use to justify your big government model. THEY use OUR money (inefficiently, I might add) to DO whatever they do. And then, when they DO it inefficiently, and with no accountability, they just take more of and spend more of our money to make their project work no matter what. THAT leads some unscrupulous folks who do business with the government to reach the conclusion of “What the hell, they aren’t going to prosecute me/us for charging more. Why not go for broke and become fabulously wealthy while we’re at it”.
t, when the government labels criminals as “too big to fail” the government is “too big to be held accountable”. Think ’bout it.

Well, I don’t know Alvie, on the way to my Engineering degree I had to sit through an economics class or 3, and not too much of what you’re saying make sense. Of course, that’s all of those ignorant college professors talking, so who knows, right?

Stupid Spew:

Wow. Solar and wind power. At your store. Where you getting those solar panels from? How are they being delivered? Store? Where do you get stuff to sell? Wait…..sell stuff at a store. Damn, that sounds like the economy. Nah, I must be mistaken.

As for the “stupid spew” about government worship. Nope. Couldn’t be more wrong. But I’m clearly much smarter than thou as I understand how things interact and interconnect. See in your stupid spew mind…you think that the “government” is some mysterious thing that is staffed by faceless / nameless drones. When in truth…we are your neighbors. Coach your kids ball teams. and go to your church. Fun thing….your church has a government. So do those athletic leagues. Hmmm.
But worse than that is your basic failure to understand just basic government spending. Now again, speaking in a simple way (because it’s you and you won’t keep up) …. Yes, the government collects taxes. They then manage that money (often times poorly) to do things like pave roads, run libraries, hire teachers and build schools. Now they also do things like provide social services….to the elderly, the mental and physically handicapped, even drug and alcohol treatment centers.
Now of course the government does many other things. At the local levels it runs parks and those athletic leagues. They put on those Christmas parades and summer festivals. They install and repairs street lights and sidewalks.
Heck…the list just continues.

But all of those things puts money right back into the economy. If your town builds a new school. They are hiring people to build it, wire it, plumb it, pave the parking lot. All of those people then buy things at…wait for it…stores !!!!!

So all of that goes to say this….
Even in your suddenly announced move to isolated yourself and your ….non economic store….from the economy…..actually is taking part in that economy.

Wow. Looking back at it like all that really makes you look dumb doesn’t it?

t, you are STILL having problems with reading comprehension. Read this slowly, so as to ascertain the meaning of what is being written. Your last rant/post did not address the point illustrated by me. Where does the government get the money to do all of those “wonderful” things you use as examples? Honestly, your post revealed to me that your thinking is exactly on par with Nancy Pelosi. She was saying a year or two ago that “for every dollar spent by the government on assistance programs, yields a dollar fifty five in the economy”. LOL. Now, I understand the velocity of money, but this sort of thinking stretches credulity. The thing that YOU, Pelosi, or OBama fail to realize is that your (government) income is limited to what you are able to TAKE from the citizenry. The upper end of that is being seen in today’s economy. We are witnessing the point to where the folks PAYING INTO “the system” are taking our ball and going home. Or, we are going through the rules (the IRS code) and finding ways in which we can put points on our board (less taxes paid, and more money in our pockets), and less points for your side (the governments’ income).

Let me give you an example. I own a couple of rentals. One of my renters and I were discussing the possibility of going galt on his rent. He would do certain labor for me/my businesses in lew of actually PAYING cash for his rental fee. I’ll have to consult with my lawyer about it, but it sounds like a good idea to me. I don’t have to report the income on my taxes, I get fair VALUE for the use of an asset, the renter gets his VALUE in trading his labor for the use of that value.

Now, who is harmed in this scenario. YOUR government. There are taxes lost at the city, county, state, and federal level. All transactions are done without the government getting a cut. This is how 1/3 of the Euro-economy is being conducted now. YOUR president (I know, it’s supposed to be capitalized) wants to change America’s economic model to that of the European model, he may well get just that,, only not in the fashion he was envisioning.

You see t, the government CAN’T do ANYTHING until it gets the funding from the citizenry. Even your’s and your wife’s government salaries and benefits are constrained by this. Even when the government makes up the money by “printing” it, there is a price that will eventually be paid in the form of inflation. Plus, they are only able to get away with the “printing” as long as we retain World Currency status (and that is coming to an end before our very eyes). When the final notice for the government’s overspending comes due, who do you think is going to “pay” for that irresponsibility? I’ll give you a hint, look at Detroit as an example. How many teachers, city workers, firefighters, and police are wailing about the cuts to their pension promises? Or, you may look at Chicago, same thing is brewing there.

I get that the governments do all sorts of wonderful things with the money that they take from us. The question we need to be asking ourselves is…….do we really NEED them to? or are we actually getting what we are paying for? The public workers in Detroit and Chicago would probably say …….NO !!!

Slaughter all swines……….

Stupid Spew: Where are you getting this stuff about my wife? And love your “logic”. I pay my taxes…but you somehow think that makes your “logic” make sense? Are are so truly clueless. Alex jones has lead you astray.