Asheville knocks the top off the chart when it comes to drug arrests. The problem is, the criminals ride the revolving door of the supersaturated judicial system only to set up shop again, soon, in a neighborhood near you. This is more of a state and federal problem, but a portion of the proceeds from confiscations from drug arrests are returned, after the state and federal bureaucrats put their fingers in the pie, to the arresting authority. In other words, officers are provided with a motivation to round up more booty. I always thought confiscating homes and vehicles as potential ill-gotten gain was a stretch under the Fourth Amendment, and surely an open door for abuse. What would Barney Fife do with these powers?
Now, the real irony is that Asheville wants to use confiscations as a “recurring revenue source.†(See this and that consent agenda item.) Fighting crime is one of the only things government should be doing. Asheville has money to study sidewalks and parking and recruit homeless people to come to Asheville. Yet, it must depend on continued popular vice in order to support criminal interdiction.
