Of course we know that police are increasingly used as revenue collectors for the state, but rarely are they this blunt about it:
Earlier this year, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives put out a request for bids to produce a bunch of Leathermans for ATF trainees. Part of the request was that the Leathermans be inscribed with the phrase “Always Think Forfeiture,” a reminder to the agents-in-training of what the agency apparently sees as its most important task.
Speaking of police-as-tax collectors, most people believe the parking meters are put in place to generate government revenue, but that is actually only half true. The real revenue producer isn’t the meters, but the parking tickets that are written when meters expire:
City officials count upon time expirations on meters so that motorists can be given tickets by the battalions of meter-maids who prowl the streets in search of prey. An additional dime or quarter in a meter pales in monetary significance to a $25 parking violation. This is why most cities have made it a misdemeanor for a person to put coins in a meter for cars other than their own.
A former student of mine once made an inquiry into the revenues cities derived from parking violations. Without such monies, he concluded, most cities could not sustain their existing municipal programs. This leads to an obvious conclusion: if you would like to reduce the scope of local governmental power, keep your parking meters filled!
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