can a LEO take your cash you have

[roadrunner5877]

Good day all,
I dont know but I heard a LEO can take cash from someone and keep it and turn it in and not charge the person with a crime. the only way to get it back is to sue the city. could this realy be true??

[G35 Mass]

Good day all,
I dont know but I heard a LEO can take cash from someone and keep it and turn it in and not charge the person with a crime. the only way to get it back is to sue the city. could this realy be true??

A law suit isn't the only way to get seized money back, but it is possible that cash is seized and charges never develop. It happens a lot in the drug investigation world for reasons that aren't proper to discuss with the general public.

[DeltaV]

A forfeiture proceeding is civil and not criminal, which means that the burden of proof is less than for a criminal conviction. So yes, it's possible that criminal charges may not get filed but the civil forfeiture case proceeds and is successful.

[McNulty]

A forfeiture proceeding is civil and not criminal, which means that the burden of proof is less than for a criminal conviction. So yes, it's possible that criminal charges may not get filed but the civil forfeiture case proceeds and is successful.

I've even seen cases where the defendant was proven not guilty, yet his assets were long ago seized and sold at auction or converted to department use.

[roadrunner5877]

I take this with a grain of salt but a TV news show showed LEO seizing money from traffic stop when doing a search of car. they said most people will not put a claim to get money back. I would think a good cop would have good gut feeling who is up to no good.

[DeltaV]

If it's a large sum of money and nobody in the car wants to claim it and prove where it came from then yes, that's frequently done. In order for the money to be legally seized there does have to be some proof as to it being proceeds from a felony if someone claims it's their money.

Now just taking a $100 bill that's found in the center console? Nope. Such a small amount of money isn't worth the expense of forfeiture proceedings. The smaller the amount of money the easier it is to prove that it's not proceeds from criminal activity.

[Legoate]

My county used to list the amount that a person owed in restitution. If a person was stopped with a large amount of money, the money was sometimes seized and booked in order to "help" the person pay off their restitution.

I haven't seen that done in a while- probably mainly because the computer system changed and it's much harder now to check how much restitution a person owes.

[scott715us]

Civil seizures of funds normally deals with drug interdiction by the agency or a combination of the agency and drug task force folks. It happens daily and that's about all I'm going to delve in on the subject. So a simple answer, "yes," LEOs can take money without criminally charging someone.

The highest amount I've personally been involved in was $80k.

[roadrunner5877]

I should be ok I carry a wade around 150 dollars in 1 and 5 dollar bills hidden in my tire jack box for a emergency

[scott715us]

I should be ok I carry a wade around 150 dollars in 1 and 5 dollar bills hidden in my tire jack box for a emergency

In one's and five's? Where you going strip club? lol

[greg72982]

In one's and five's? Where you going strip club? lol

He never did specify what type of emergency...

[retdetsgt]

I've even seen cases where the defendant was proven not guilty, yet his assets were long ago seized and sold at auction or converted to department use.

The seizure is a civil action, not criminal. Handled in a different manner altogether and the burden of proof that it was part of a criminal enterprise is not as high.

When I was in drugs, we had several cases where we were able to keep stuff even after we dropped the criminal case.

[roadrunner5877]

Emergeny? one time about 10 years I had someone spin out next to me going way to fast in a snow strom I ended up in ditch to avoid hitting them and tow trucks only took cash. I was lucky I had the 90 dollars at the time. btw the reason I have so much small bills I keep trowing tip money I get in my center console

[Samuel]

He never did specify what type of emergency...

Hey Roadrunner, you'll be ok - Greg's got your back all the way on this one... Just drop his name if you ever get hassled...

[ET109]

I have seen about 150$ seized before... but it was in conjunction with weed. So unless you're also driving around with that, I wouldn't worry.