Justice Department Tells Georgia Sheriff That He Can't Use Federal Funds To Buy A Charger Hellcat

A Georgia police department is in hot water over the purchase of a Hellcat muscle car.

Fox 5 reports that the U.S. Department of Justice has asked the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office to pay back $69,258 that it received from a federal program that distributes seized drug money to law enforcement agencies, which was used to buy the 707 hp Dodge Charger Hellcat in May.

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MDarringer - 7/20/2018 11:05:45 AM

+2 Boost

There's a sheriff in Louisiana that drives a Maserati that was seized in a drug bust.

Buying a Hellcat with public money is not in the public interest. I say give the man his Hellcat as a gift and deduct the cost from his paycheck. Problem solved.

TomM - 7/20/2018 6:55:23 PM

+1 Boost

Not the same thing.

THis was MONEYseized in Drug Busts - earmarked for helping local law enforcement. A Hellcat is clearly NOT in the public's interest - and can easily be established as extravagant - and should never have been bought.

valhallakey - 7/21/2018 3:17:46 AM

+1 Boost

Actually they can take your money or other assets and never charge you with anything. Some states etc... are changing that situation. My Dad had a friend going to buy a tractor in LA and was taking cash. Cops stopped him took his money and he never got it back. http://thehill.com/opinion/civil-rights/376961-civil-asset-forfeiture-reform-is-sweeping-the-nation

MDarringer - 7/21/2018 9:46:00 AM

+1 Boost

@TomM it IS the same thing. Seized money is in effect public money to the agency.

countguy - 7/20/2018 11:28:05 AM

0 Boost

Figures

valhallakey - 7/20/2018 11:30:12 AM

0 Boost

Not all that thrilled with those seizure laws that allow police to seize your assets if they think it might be used for drugs and normally you have no recourse. Seems like due process is subverted in the name of the drug war. In any case certainly a Hellcat is not a good use of government funds, Matt has a good idea above, in addition, though not clear in the article, if there are legal violations on how he used that money he should be held to account as well.

MDarringer - 7/20/2018 11:50:02 AM

0 Boost

This: "...seizure laws that allow police to seize your assets if they think it might be used for drugs..." is a gross misrepresentation.

Police can seize property, but it cannot be taken away permanently without a conviction.

So if you're arrested and your car is seized, but the charges are dropped, the car comes back to you.

As for the Hellcat, public agencies typically have to put intended acquisition out to bid, but that bid is overseen internally first. If the guy needed a vehicle, he would normally get a fleet car. For the Hellcat to have been purchased, the bid either went around internal review or internal review failed to act in the public interest.

Fleet sales to law enforcement requires a lot of by-the-book procedures.

LexSucks - 7/20/2018 4:22:04 PM

-7 Boost

You need lawyers to get back your property. By-the-book procedures? LOL. This is the police we're talking about.

MDarringer - 7/20/2018 4:42:10 PM

+1 Boost

You do NOT need lawyers if charges are dropped.

You need lawyers to get your property back if you plea bargain or are found guilty.

The police are not the enemy. You really need to stop spending so much time with crackheads in the new KKK oops Black Lives Matter who promulgate the nonsense that the police are inherently evil.

Sure there are isolated cases where people had to go to court, but those are isolated cases.

Sure there are isolated cases of bad cops, but those are isolated cases.

zlives - 7/20/2018 2:52:13 PM

+1 Boost

road to hell, paved with good itnetions
https://www.nationalreview.com/2017/06/civil-asset-forfeiture-police-abuse-clarence-thomas/