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Police use new device to seize money in bank accounts or on prepaid cards

news9.com

281–290 of 517 posts

Re: Police use new device to seize money in bank accounts or on prepaid cards

#281
post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Searching for "debit" brings up this: > In addition to presenting the value associated with a card, the terminal will read other card types such as credit and debit cards. While no value can be provided, the terminal will display a “card not supported” message to alert the trooper that this is not a prepaid card. The trooper can then compare the four digits displayed on the terminal with the last four digits shown on…

"I'm not really sure why they compare the last 4 digits to detect a clone, that seems wrong to me." It catches lazy counterfeiting. Stamp a whole bunch of cards with the same number and info, while the magstripe is what gets read and is the real account you're stealing from, the theory being that no-one really cares about the number printed on the card. Some retailers do this too, ask or enter the last four of the ca…

I particularly enjoy when a cashier asks me to read the last 4 digits of the card, rather than following the instructions on the terminal (which say something like "Give card to cashier...").

Re: Police use new device to seize money in bank accounts or on prepaid cards

#283
"News 9 obtained a copy of the contract with the state.

It shows the state is paying ERAD Group Inc., $5,000 for the software and scanners, then 7.7 percent of all the cash the highway patrol seizes."

This is truly disgusting. I have no words.

Re: Police use new device to seize money in bank accounts or on prepaid cards

#284
post #275
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you can prove can prove that you have a legitimate reason to have that money Exactly, why is it not incumbent upon them to prove that you have gained that money through illegitimate means?

If the police catch a person running away from a recently robbed bank holding a bag of money do you think they should have to convict the person before taking back the money? If there is reason to believe that someone is in possession of property that doesn't belong to them it seems perfectly reasonable for the police to confiscate said property.

In that case, wouldn't it be evidence? I genuinely don't know all the details of how this works, but I do find it disturbing that the police turn around and spend the forfeited cash. Should they be allowed to do that with the sack of money from the bank, in your example?

Re: Police use new device to seize money in bank accounts or on prepaid cards

#285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time to lookup ERAD Inc. online. Fun times ahead!

I found their website, and a page describing the service I believe these police are using. https://www.erad-group.com/fci Also, I noticed that site:www.erad-group.com doesn't return anything on google, but it does on other search engines. Did ERAD request that it be removed from search results? Why would they do that? Why would they also not have a robots.txt if that is the case?

From their html source:

  
  
  
  
Not sure what they are intending here. But my guess is they don't either.

[edit: submitted too soon by mistake]

Re: Police use new device to seize money in bank accounts or on prepaid cards

#286

Symptom of a bigger problem: nobody in the criminal justice system is punished for making the wrong move. There is no law enforcement downside to civil asset forfeiture. Officer-involved shootings are discouraged from prosecution or otherwise involve highly-paid "expert" witnesses saying the officer had no other choice - at taxpayer expense. Prosecutors are valued by the number of wins, not by how many innocent peopl…

One problem with that is government work, especially day-to-day law enforcement, already has a challenge in recruiting good, talented workers. The pay is generally lower than private industry and there's not much prestige to be had. Adding personal liability to the mix makes this situation even worse.

Not to say there can't be reasonable steps to move the needle toward accountability. Lowering the bar for perjury charges would be a good first step.

Re: Police use new device to seize money in bank accounts or on prepaid cards

#287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time to lookup ERAD Inc. online. Fun times ahead!

I'm already spinning up a comprehensive FOIA request with MuckRock.com. Feel free to reply to my comment if anyone would like to collaborate.

Can you include something like this?

"What states does ERAD currently have contracts with? With what states does ERAD anticipate contracts to be signed in the next 180 days, and for all of these states, what percentages will ERAD be earning on funds seized?"

Re: Police use new device to seize money in bank accounts or on prepaid cards

#289
post #262

As an Englishman, I have a couple of questions for you Americans on here. 1) Does anyone know who came up with these "civil asset forfeitures"? (Personally, they seem most un-civil to me.) 2) Can any of you defend America as "the land of the free" when more of the population are in prison than in almost any other country in the word and the police not only have the power to strip you of your property and assets witho…

1. Most recently, Ronald Reagan's take on the War on Drugs. 2. It's the land of the free if you're not one of the 'bad' minorities. That same moniker was used when it enslaved millions of people. The fact that they are now sitting in prison, instead of being forced to pick cotton is tangential.

> Most recently, Ronald Reagan's take on the War on Drugs.

The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 - which started all of this - was introduced by a Democrat and passed through a majority Democratic House.

All sides are guilty of opening this genie's bottle.

Re: Police use new device to seize money in bank accounts or on prepaid cards

#290
post #275
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you can prove can prove that you have a legitimate reason to have that money Exactly, why is it not incumbent upon them to prove that you have gained that money through illegitimate means?

If the police catch a person running away from a recently robbed bank holding a bag of money do you think they should have to convict the person before taking back the money? If there is reason to believe that someone is in possession of property that doesn't belong to them it seems perfectly reasonable for the police to confiscate said property.

If the police catch a person running away from a recently robbed bank holding a bag of money do you think they should have to convict the person before taking back the money?

Yes. The money may be held in escrow pending the trial, but appropration by police is unjust -- and should be illegal if the person is not charged and arrested.

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