Based on laws that originated from the War on Drugs in the 1980s, police departments around the country are able to seize a person’s cash and property without charging them with a crime. Civil forfeiture laws were created as a tool to cripple suspected criminals and drug rings, but police departments nationwide have been using this cash and property to fund their operations or even pay policemen directly. The problem, is that in the vast majority of assets seizures, the individual is not charged with a crime. And once their cash and property are seized, getting it back is a prohibitively lengthy and expensive process. WATCH NEXT: The Ex-Undercover Cop Exposing the UK’s Police Corruption - bit.ly/2mJnBaG Click here to subscribe to VICE: bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE Check out our full video catalog: bit.ly/VICE-Videos Videos, daily editorial and more: vice.com More videos from the VICE network: www.fb.com/vicevideo Like VICE on Facebook: fb.com/vice Follow VICE on Twitter: twitter.com/vice Read our Tumblr: vicemag.tumblr.com Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/vice Check out our Pinterest: pinterest.com/vicemag Download VICE on iOS: apple.co/28Vgmqz Download VICE on Android: bit.ly/28S8Et0