Civil asset forfeiture is plain old wicked. It is blatant, out-and-out stealing. Some Colorado lawmakers aren’t trying to end it, but to just rein it in a little bit. (That in itself is not the best approach. Theft should be illegal and any concession that theft should be legal under certain circumstances is evil. But this episode reveals a lot of truth in spite of that little fact.)

Here’s the Daily Record article on it.

Prominent cops are bold in saying that they want their thievery to remain unchecked. They have revealed their covetous hearts and their names are named unashamedly in the newspaper.

Pete Carey, Colorado Springs Police Chief

Chip Taylor, executive director of Colorado Counties Inc.

Justin Smith, Larimer County Sheriff

They’re the ones who are named in the article, but I’m sure there are many, many more. Those guys don’t stop theft in their jurisdiction. They and their blue gangs are the biggest thieves.

Cops blindly enforce any and all unjust laws and then use the lame excuse that they don’t make the laws, they just enforce them. Obviously, that’s a lie and a cop out. They have the ear of the governor and lobbyist groups and they can’t claim to be impartial parties. They are a powerful constituency and they make their voices heard.

Justin ends the article saying that if the law passes, “I just simply see a lot of agencies — they will abandon forfeitures.” I certainly hope so.

UPDATE: A similar story appeared in the Pueblo Chieftain. We can add these names to the list of thieves boldly coming out of the thief closet.

Kirk Taylor, Sheriff, Pueblo County

Eric Gonzales, Sergeant, Pueblo Police Department