NYPD Tells Judge Its $25 Million Forfeiture Database Has No Backup

Found on Techdirt on Sunday, 22 October 2017
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The NYPD is actively opposed to transparency. It does all it can to thwart outsiders from accessing any info about the department's inner workings.

The department has spent $25 million on a forfeiture tracking system that can't even do the one thing it's supposed to do: track forfeitures. The Property and Evidence Tracking System (PETS) is apparently so complex and so badly constructed, the NYPD can't compile the records being sought.

"New York City is one power surge away from losing all of the data police have on millions of dollars in unclaimed forfeitures, a city attorney admitted to a flabbergasted judge on Tuesday."

One blockout, and all proof (or evidence?) is gone. That would work pretty well for the NYPD and it would be no surprise at all if accidentally the cleaning lady pulls the right wrong plug. When your police force gets out of control like that and looks more like a gang of organized crime, it's no suprise that citizens have less and less trust in the government.