OHP Uses New Device To Seize Money Used During The Commission Of A Crime [Oklahoma]

[Timber Rattler]

Government theft made easier...

http://www.news9.com/story/32168555/ohp-uses-new-device-to-seize-money-used-during-the-commission-of-a-crime

You may have heard of civil asset forfeiture.
 
That's where police can seize your property and cash without first proving you committed a crime; without a warrant and without arresting you, as long as they suspect that your property is somehow tied to a crime.

Now, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol has a device that also allows them to seize money in your bank account or on prepaid cards.

It's called an ERAD, or Electronic Recovery and Access to Data machine, and state police began using 16 of them last month. 

Here's how it works. If a trooper suspects you may have money tied to some type of crime, the highway patrol can scan any cards you have and seize the money. 

"We're gonna look for different factors in the way that you're acting,” Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. John Vincent said. “We're gonna look for if there's a difference in your story. If there's someway that we can prove that you're falsifying information to us about your business."

Troopers insist this isn't just about seizing cash. 

"I know that a lot of people are just going to focus on the seizing money. That's a very small thing that' s happening now. The largest part that we have found ... the biggest benefit has been the identity theft," Vincent said.

"If you can prove can prove that you have a legitimate reason to have that money it will be given back to you. And we've done that in the past," Vincent said about any money seized.

State Sen. Kyle Loveless, R-Oklahoma City, said that removes due process and the belief that a suspect is presumed innocent until proven guilty. He said we've already seen cases in Oklahoma where police are abusing the system.

"We've seen single mom's stuff be taken, a cancer survivor his drugs taken, we saw a Christian band being taken. We've seen innocent people's stuff being taken. We've seen where the money goes and how it's been misspent," Loveless said.

Loveless plans to introduce legislation next session that would require a conviction before any assets could be seized.

"If I had to err on the side of one side versus the other, I would err on the side of the Constitution,” Loveless said. “And I think that's what we need to do."

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. 

[Just_Victor]

"If you can prove can prove that you have a legitimate reason to have that money it will be given back to you. And we've done that in the past," Vincent said about any money seized.

Uh, it's your job to prove in a court of law that I don't have the right to posses my money.  Maybe Mr. Vincent slept through that part of high school civics class.

[SirLinksALot]

SOURCE: ARMSTRONG ECONOMICS

https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/north_america/americas-current-economy/oklahoma-police-can-seize-your-entire-bank-account-on-a-traffic-stop-without-any-charges-at-all/

by: Martin Armstrong

_________________________________

The one state that has gone complete anti-democratic is Oklahoma. It is wise not to travel in that state at all. Oklahoma should be on a no-fly zone. Now, Oklahoma police can outright seize everything you have from debit cards to bank accounts on a traffic stop without any criminal charges being filed. If some policeman thinks you’re doing something illegal, your life is over. Without money, you cannot hire a lawyer and they can just rob everything you have on a whim.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol has introduced a device called Electronic Recovery and Access to Data (ERAM) that allows police officers to seize money in your bank account or on prepaid cards. State police began using 16 of these machines last month, and now the police have become literal highway robbers. This makes the traffic cops in Russia, who you can bribe to go away if they pull you over for a speeding ticket, as a far more civilized arrangement. Here, they can rob you of everything.

Let’s say a state trooper suspects or just thinks you may have money tied to any sort of crime. He can now scan any cards you have and seize the money in your wallet. He does not have to charge you with a crime. There is no right to remain silent, for he is not charging you. He is after all your money because the governments is broke.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Lt. John Vincent said, “We’re gonna look for if there’s a difference in your story. If there’s some way that we can prove that you’re falsifying information to us about your business.” So all he has to do is “believe” you lied about anything and he has the right to take everything you have. They justify this by claiming it is not about seizing money. Of course not. It is criminal prosecution but there is no crime. Forget innocent until proven guilty. That will not apply. They pretend the money committed the crime – not you.

This is simply nullifying the Constitution. You have absolutely ZERO rights. He can rob you of everything and leave you with not even enough money for gas. The police have become the criminals. This is precisely how Rome fell. When they could not pay the army, they began sacking their own cities. This is exactly what the police are doing now and there is nobody to defend us against this new criminal organization.

Just stay out of Oklahoma at all costs. If other states follow, you better migrate to another country and fast. Look for a country not based on common law (English countries). This will destroy the freedom to travel for broke police have become highway criminals with guns.

[SirLinksALot]

For those who are not aware, legislative action is needed to keep the government from compromising people’s property rights in the hunt for money.


Last week, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and a bipartisan group of co-sponsors introduced a bill to rein in civil asset forfeiture. Among the most significant measures, the Deterring Undue Enforcement by Protecting Rights of Citizens from Excessive Searches and Seizures Act of 2016, or the DUE PROCESS Act, would shift the burden of proof from the property owner to the government, and raise the standard needed to validate a forfeiture.

If passed, the new law would require the government to provide “clear and convincing” evidence that property was substantially connected to criminal activity — still below the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard for criminal convictions.

This must pass!

ANYBODY WHO TRIES TO STOP THIS OR VOTES AGAINST IT SHOULD BE KICKED OUT OF OFFICE AND TARRED AND FEATHERED !! We did not fight a revolutionary war only to see the equivalent of British Oppressors reincarnated.

[don-o]

But wait! There's more!

Michigan Teen Challenging Warrantless Breathalyzer Law

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/michigan-teen-challenging-warrantless-breathalyzer-law-n588351?cid=sm_fb

A Michigan teen who was ticketed — as a passenger — for balking at taking a Breathalyzer test says that she refused because the detective did not have a warrant.

Now 17-year-old Casey Guthrie has filed a federal lawsuit against the cop who slapped her with the $100 citation last month.

[ExFreeper]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcaxpmKaZhY


New Front in Civil Forfeiture: Authorities Get Devices to Seize Funds Loaded to Prepaid Cards

Oklahoma Watch - By Clifton Adcock

The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety has purchased several devices capable of seizing funds loaded on to prepaid debit cards to aid troopers in roadside seizures of suspected drug-trafficking proceeds.

The portable card scanners are designed to be carried in law enforcement vehicles, allow troopers to freeze and seize money loaded onto a prepaid debit card, and to return money to an account whose funds were seized or frozen.

The vehicle-mounted scanners are also capable of retrieving and storing limited account information from other cards as well, such as banking debit cards, credit cards and “payment account information from virtually any magnetic stripe card,” according to the website and patent documents of the device manufacturer, Texas-based ERAD Group Inc. ERAD stands for Electronic Recovery and Access to Data.

The card readers could reignite debate over civil asset forfeiture in Oklahoma and across the nation. State and federal laws allow law enforcement agencies to seize property and cash believed to be involved in the illicit drug trade and then take ownership of the assets through a civil-court action.

Law enforcement officials say that civil asset forfeiture is essential in disrupting drug trafficking operations. Civil-rights advocates argue that the process violates individuals’ property and civil liberties and sometimes results in innocent people having money seized on the roadside without being arrested or charged.

The new devices will now allow law enforcement to not only seize money in physical possession of a person being stopped, but from a financial institution holding the money loaded onto a prepaid debit card as well.

Brady Henderson, legal director for ACLU Oklahoma, said the new tactic could easily run afoul of the Fourth Amendment and land the issue in court.

“I think this is likely to expand pretty radically the scope of civil asset forfeiture procedures,” Henderson said. “This is a capability that law enforcement has never had before and one that is very likely to land DPS in litigation.”

However, law enforcement officials say the devices are essentially part of the arms race between police and drug traffickers, who in recent years have been loading pre-paid cards with millions of dollars for transport as part of the drug trade, thus decreasing the likelihood of seizure by law enforcement.

“They’re basically using pre-paid cards instead of carrying large amounts of cash,” said Lt. John Vincent, public information officer for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol.

The contract signed by the state and ERAD Group, obtained by Oklahoma Watch, states that Department of Public Safety will pay a one-time $5,000 implementation charge and a $1,500 training charge for the devices.

ERAD Group will receive a 7.7 percent cut of all funds seized via the card readers. Vincent said the 16 prepaid card readers obtained by the department were installed in May.

The card readers will not be used to randomly swipe motorists’ gift or prepaid cards, Vincent said, but only in cases in which the trooper suspects criminal activity is taking place. The device logs which trooper is using the device when a card is swiped.

“If we have reasonable suspicion to believe there’s a crime being committed, we’re going to investigate that. If someone has 300 cards taped up and hidden inside the dash of a vehicle, we’re going to check that,” Vincent said. “But if the person has proof that it belongs to him for legitimate reasons, there’s nothing going to happen. We won’t seize it.”

A joint law enforcement drug interdiction team under the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office also has the devices, and Oklahoma City police officers who are part of the team use them, said Capt. Juan Balderrama, spokesman for the Oklahoma city Police Department.

Henderson said the devices were something that his organization has not run across before.

“You have effectively a way of instantly seizing a digital account from a traffic stop,” Henderson said. “That’s a capability I have never seen before.”

Judith Rinearson, a partner with the law firm Bryan Cave and a prepaid card-industry attorney, said in the past most individuals who used reloadable prepaid cards were unbanked or low income, but younger adults have begun using those cards as their primary financial transaction card.

http://oklahomawatch.org/2016/06/07/new-front-in-civil-forfeiture-okla-authorities-get-devices-to-seize-funds-loaded-onto-prepaid-cards/


For those interested, here is the actual contract with ERAD Group:

CONTRACT AGREEMENT Between THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA Department of Public Safety (DPS) And ERAD Group, Inc.

[240B]

There is already talk of expanding this capability to include roadside payment of tickets and fines 'on the spot'.

A LEO can stop you and say, "I think you were jaywalking/speeding/not a coming to a complete stop" whatever, and then tell you that you can pay him now or he will write the ticket and you have to go to court.

This will give management real-time data on how much money each police officer is bring in per day in relation to their assigned quotas, so they can be rewarded accordingly.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Terrible. Carry a $20 in your wallet, leave your cards at home. That's what I'd do.

All this stupidity because of the anti-drug hysteria of the 80's.

[ExFreeper]

Terrible. Carry a $20 in your wallet, leave your cards at home. That's what I'd do.
All this stupidity because of the anti-drug hysteria of the 80's.

As I understand this in OK, the program only effects debit cards however we can see where this is going.  This is mind boggling that the cops can take your money without a court/judge or warrant. 

[geronl]

All this stupidity because of the anti-drug hysteria of the 80's.

tyranny doesn't need an excuse.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

Snopes says the machines cannot empty bank accounts:

http://www.snopes.com/oklahoma-police-erad-civil-forfeitures/

The petition is, whether intentionally or not, misleading. While the state of Oklahoma has purchased ERADs, the devices are not capable of taking money directly out of bank accounts; according to a FAQ section on the Texas-based ERAD group's web site, the devices only work with prepaid cards:

Fin Cen defines prepaid access as "access to funds or the value of funds that have been paid in advance and can be retrieved or transferred at some point in the future through an electronic device or vehicle, such as a card, code, electronic serial number, mobile identification number, or personal identification number." Open Loop prepaid cash cards, closed loop retailer gift cards and stored-value cards are example of prepaid access devices.

Still disgraceful I guess though.

[Weird Tolkienish Figure]

http://www.snopes.com/oklahoma-police-erad-civil-forfeitures/

The petition is, whether intentionally or not, misleading. While the state of Oklahoma has purchased ERADs, the devices are not capable of taking money directly out of bank accounts; according to a FAQ section on the Texas-based ERAD group's web site, the devices only work with prepaid cards:

Fin Cen defines prepaid access as "access to funds or the value of funds that have been paid in advance and can be retrieved or transferred at some point in the future through an electronic device or vehicle, such as a card, code, electronic serial number, mobile identification number, or personal identification number." Open Loop prepaid cash cards, closed loop retailer gift cards and stored-value cards are example of prepaid access devices.

As disgusting as CAF is, it looks like they cannot drain your bank account at least.

[Mod1]

Three threads on the same topic have been merged.

[INVAR]

Highwaymen.

And, as the feds continue to nationalize local police departments, look for this tyranny to go… well - national.

This is what happens when a society becomes unmoored from it's Constitutional/biblical/Christian underpinnings.

Institutionalized corruption and tyranny.  Jut like everywhere else on the planet.