16 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: MAY 2017 American Police Beat Chairman & Publisher: Cynthia Brown Chief Executive Officer: Sarah Vallee Editor-in-Chief: Mark Nichols Advertising Sales: Dave Quimby Digital Manager: Jeremy Lange Office Assistant: Brendan O’Brien Designer: Karin Henderson OPINION/EDITORIAL When it comes to a good old-fashioned “perp-walk,” generally what people expect to see are big scary dudes from some terri- fying part of a scary city, covered in tattoos sneering and swearing at the cameras as they’re hauled off to jail. But when the perps being walked are middle-aged guys with glasses and three- piece suits, people tend to lose interest. Guys like Bernie Madoff just don’t fit the bill when most people think “bad guy.” And that’s a shame. In the explosively contentious debate about civil asset forfeiture, law enforce- ment officials frequently point out that money or property taken by state entities helps law enforcement afford better gear and do a better job. The problem is that chasing down that money can be time- consuming and can shift the focus away from other crime-fighting priorities. But what if we took financial crime as seriously as violent crime? Could law en- forcement actually get more money than they do from the “little fish” during stops and vehicle searches? The answer, at least in the Big Apple, is yes. Queens District Attorney Richard Brown just handed over more than $20 million in settlement funds to the city’s Police Department to support community policing in the borough. The DA presented a check for $20,391,864 to NYPD Police Commis- sioner James O’Neill to pay for the De- partment’s implementation of a number of law enforcement initiatives as well as pay for new cars, technology and training. The cash the cops got is part of the 2012 HSBC Holdings agreement. The banking and financial services or- ganization admitted to money laundering and sanctions violations, and agreed to forfeit $1.25 billion as part of a deferred prosecution agreement with the U.S. De- partment of Justice. They also had to fork over $665 million in civil penalties for its money laundering violations. The funding will help the NYPD to pur- chase 264 new vehicles as well as equip- ment for enhanced training initiatives at the NYPD’s police academy. Other pur- chases include new training technology for recruits and 19,000 new and improved gun holsters. It’s unclear how much the NYPD gen- erates through asset forfeiture in a given year. Legislation has been proposed to force disclosure of the details and where that money gets spent. But when a single agency’s share of a set- tlement to avoid criminal charges is more than $20 million, it makes you wonder if this isn’t a more logical revenue stream for law enforcement than seizing cash and property from individual citizens. By the way, HBSC isn’t the only bank that made a deal to avoid criminal pros- ecutions. Other large financial institutions that didn’t want to face the music in court have ponied up about $204 billion in fines, which to them is like lunch money. If you want to understand why labor unions are a good thing, just check out what’s going on places like Atlantic City and New Orleans. In Atlantic City, government officials used the same technique that they successfully used to take labor out of the frame in Detroit. They just declared a financial emergency. That’s all it takes for an “emergency manager” to come in and undo your cur- rent contract without judicial interference or recourse. According to CBS News, the police union, which represents officers in Atlantic City, has filed a lawsuit against the state after a chilling letter from Gov. Chris Christie announced pay cuts for police officers. “This was not an easily reached decision,” said Atlantic City Police Department PBA Local 24. “We did everything we possibly could to work with the state, but it became clear that they had no real intention to work with us, do what’s best for the city or protect public’s safety in our town.” In Louisiana, politicians had an easier time because it’s a so-called “right to work” state. According to The Advocate: “The com- mission voted 4-0 to allow Superintendent Michael Harrison to pick the commanders who run the department’s eight geographic districts and other major divisions. Harri- son said the proposal would cement recent reforms made under a consent decree with the federal government. The OK for the plan came over the objection of all three major police unions. The whole point of labor unions is pretty simple. By organizing and bargaining for wages and benefits collectively, employees stand a better shot of not being ripped off or mistreated by employers. The fact that the governor in New Jersey can just cut cops’ pay in a given city and give a boss unilateral power to hire and fire com- manders as he or she see fits is what policy looks like without unions or when unions are stripped of their bargaining power. Watch out for more paycuts and chiefs and sheriffs getting more power to hire and fire employ- ees at will. It’s coming. Big game, bigger trophies Winds of change blowing hard Bits and pieces Don’t you just hate it when you’re yet another dis- graced Alabama governor who managed to get the state police involved in his extramarital activities, and then you get busted and no one can stop talking about how your mug shot looks exactly like Mr. Burns from The Simpsons? Resemblance is striking You’re never gonna believe this... Sasquatch blamed for Idaho car crash – Fox News headline “Super Troopers 2” is an upcoming American crime comedy mystery film directed by Jay Chandrasekhar. It is a sequel to the popular 2001 film “Super Troopers.” They’re back!