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Nowadays, drug and related property seizures can be discovered as the main law enforcement instruments not only to prevent drug trafficking but also to generate additional revenues to support the functioning of the police. This type of regulation helped law enforcement agencies fill their gaps in budgeting and develop a new punishment. Nonetheless, this law tends to have some drawbacks since the property or vehicle can be seized even if it does not belong to the suspect directly, such as a rented car or apartment. In turn, the concepts of constructive possession may add difficulties to the investigation process, as they create scenarios that may only possibly incur, such as a driver can be aware of drugs in his/her car. A combination of these factors states that legislation covering drug and property seizure has to be revised while taking into account a diverse range of circumstances to avoid conflicts and false accusations.
Nowadays, apart from the well-developed and constantly revised legislation, issues with illegal drugs continue to exist. For example, drug abuse is still one of the major problems since it has a negative effect on the health and mental condition of individuals, while prescription drugs can also be viewed as threats (McHugh, Nielsen, & Weiss, 2015). The rising popularity of drugs worldwide requires continuing the development of the legal framework, and after the completion of a drug arrest, the law enforcement agency can seize property such as automobile or house. Consequently, the primary goal of the paper is to review different cases of drug seizures, describe associated procedures to collect witness-related evidence and investigative techniques and express my opinion about this aspect. In the end, conclusions are drawn to summarize the main findings of the paper.
In the first place, the primary reasons for the development of property seizures were linked to financial purposes. In this case, arresting apartments, houses, and vehicles not only reduced drug activity but also generated additional revenues for the police department (Bridy, 2014). This matter helped fill the existent financial gaps, as civil forfeiture assisted in maintaining a law enforcement agency and its operations at the relevant levels, and it helped decrease dramatically escalating percentage of crimes. Nonetheless, as it was depicted earlier, different situations might incur during the arrest of the property. Thus, before entering the property that can potentially help the investigation, the search warrant has to be received, while entering without it is only possible in some exemptions (Signorelli, 2016). Following these rules will help avoid violations of confidentiality and privacy and find relevant evidence to support the investigation.
Generally speaking, one of the most common situations is the fact that the apartment is rented. According to the law, property seizure depends on a plethora of factors. For example, a landlord did not terminate a contract after noticing drug activity and or start collecting supporting evidence to evict a tenant (Brown & Rosenquest, 2017). It could be said that the landlord broke the law and could be considered as an actor in the drug trafficking chain. Also, collecting evidence by having conversations with witnesses (taking notes, recording conversations, and paying attention to non-verbal communication) and using investigative techniques such as collecting, preserving, and analyzing the evidence can help provide a rationale for the landlord’s property seizure. In this instance, a combination of these aspects will help determine the nature of crime and the landlord’s level of involvement and provide a rationale and reasons for the subsequent actions, including property seizure.
Another matter might be related to the fact the individual, who was caught transporting drugs, was not the owner of the car. In this instance, the idea of constructive possession defines the actions of the police department. This method implies developing the fictive scenario, where the actual owner of the car is in charge of the situation and aware of the incident (CTI Reviews, 2016). This potential case can help unveil mysteries to the investigation. Nonetheless, it may also create some confusion, as the owner (a relative) might be only indirectly linked to the crime scene and drug trafficking. When referring to the presented scenario, the owner of the car could be aware of drugs and their transportation, and, as a consequence, he/she could be viewed as a suspect. Recording conversations with witnesses, making notes, searching a car, conducting a chemical analysis of potential drug substance, acquiring fingerprints, and determining a sequence of events can ease the investigation and help understand whether property seizure is rational.
It could be said that apart from the cases depicted above, there is an extended variety of similar situations. For example, one of the passengers does not inform the owner/driver of the car about drugs and does not claim them. According to the drug seizure laws, the owner of the car is responsible for the situation and may lose his/her property (CTI Reviews, 2016). When conducting an analysis of this situation, similarly to the previous case, the concept of constructive possession is the core of the decision-making process. In the context of this scenario, it could be assumed that the driver/owner of the car was aware of the presence of illegal drugs in the vehicle, and it would be difficult to find supporting evidence to prove the driver’s innocence. As for the car, the vehicle could be arrested since it would be discovered as a threat and might be suspected of being involved in drug trafficking. Nonetheless, to ease the investigation process, it will be reasonable to contact potential witnesses and collect different types of evidence from the crime scene such as forensic (fingerprints), testimonial (dialogue with a witness), various documents such as emails and interactions on the social media, and direct one (the presence of the drug). These factors will not only help understand the situation profoundly but also may assist in discovering a more complex drug trafficking chain.
Overall, initially, drug and property seizure was aimed to reduce crimes such as drug trafficking, but violations of the legislation by the law enforcement community questioned the appropriateness of confiscation as a crime control and prevention tool. At the same time, it is evident that the reputation of the individuals, who were not responsible for the crime, such as car owners, drivers, and landlords, was often damaged due to their potential involvement in drug-trafficking. Based on the description of the controversial cases, I can state that there are more effective punishments than property seizure, such as incarceration for drug-related crimes, to control and reduce the number of cases of similar violations. In this instance, it will be possible to find supporting evidence with the help of witnesses and investigative techniques and unveil important details of the crime scene. It could be said that a combination of these factors will make the final decision reasonable, logical, and supportive.
References
Bridy, A. (2014). Carpe Omnia: Civil forfeiture in the war on drugs and the war on piracy. Arizona State Law Journal, 46(1), 683-727.
Brown, D., & Rosenquest, N. (2017). The California landlord’s handbook: Evictions. Berkeley, CA: NOLO Law for All.
McHugh, K., Nielsen, S., & Weiss, R. (2015). Prescription drug abuse: From epidemiology to public policy. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 48(1), 1-7.
Signorelli, W. (2016). Criminal law, procedure, and evidence. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
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