Do not hide $50,000 in your friends car as a prank.
Sure, its a classic joke. Everybody has a couple hundred grand lying around, just waiting for a great hidden money gag to present itself, but Oklahomas law enforcement community might not be in on the fun.
It turns out our states forfeiture laws the ones that say state and local law enforcement officers can seize money or property if they even think its involved in a crime, even if they never file a charge are ripe for misuse.
Recent investigations by Oklahoma Watch and NPR found seized money has been used to pay off college loans for an assistant district attorney, a seized home was used as a rent-free residence by another assistant DA and there were more than another dozen cases in which guns, money and property taken in forfeiture was lost or went unreported.
District attorneys and law enforcement agencies are appalled at the insinuation that they might be tempted to just go after peoples money and possessions just because theyre allowed, with almost no regulation, to take peoples money and possessions. If theres one thing we know about power is that it absolutely does not corrupt anybody at all ever.
State Sen. Kyle Loveless, R-Oklahoma City, wants to amend the law to require criminal charges after any asset forfeiture (which the U.S. Department of Justice did already this year), but hes getting a lot of pushback from people who dont want to make it any harder for them to take money.
Heres a hypothetical list of things state and local cops can take from you if they think (or say they think) its involved in a crime:
Money
A calendar with cute kittens on it
Your prized Who farted? T-shirt
George Washingtons femur
A 1997 Hyundai Elantra
So until this gets sorted out, Gazette staff recommends you go back to other classic pranks, like short-sheeting the bed or pretending to love someone.