According to a lawsuit filed by Institute for Justice in Arlington, Va., law enforcement in Wayne County unconstitutionally seized private vehicles and property. The libertarian public interest law firm is representing Melisa Ingram of Southfield and Robert Reeves of Detroit. Ingram states her car was seized while her boyfriend was driving it, although no arrests were made nor criminal charges filed
The lawsuit said that police officers regularly took ownership of property when the owners were neither accused of nor charged with committing a crime, which they refer to a "seize and ransom" policy. Civil asset forfeiture is a law that allows law enforcement to assume ownership of property seized from private parties under the contention that it may be associated with a crime. However, in this case, it was unrelated to any criminal activity.
Michigan Capitol Confidential launched an investigation that found that Michigan law enforcement seized assets from more than 6,000 people annually. Hundreds lose their property, including cash and vehicles, without any criminal charges ever being filed. Over the past two years, Wayne County has collected more than $1.2 million in connection with revenue from these assets.
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