Easy Money: Civil Asset Forfeiture Abuse by Police
Asset forfeiture laws create huge incentives for law enforcement officers to police for profit. In 2003, the total amount forfeited to Georgia law enforcement was $38,330,861.
However, in Georgia and most other states, if police want access to more of the money for their budgets, they may turn over a drug-related seizure to the D.E.A., who then returns 80 percent of the money to the police, with no state law strings attached.