I often argue with legalization proponents about the futility of legalization as a cure for gang related crime. I am of a mind that any large organization that makes money from criminal activity will not simply give up lucrative income streams when they become legal. Proponents of the “legalization will reduce crime” theory claim that once marijuana, for example, is legal that the gangs that make some of their a living selling pot will see the error of their ways, dissolve their membership and go on to lead productive lives. The mafia’s continued involvement with alcohol related industries (bars, nightclubs, liquor warehouses) well after prohibition was repealed seems to prove my point.

As does this case, where a gang enforcement unit with no clear chain of command was being funded partially through the confiscation of money and valuables from gang members. When their funding was drying up and gang members becoming more scarce, the inevitable happened:

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) ― A special review panel said Thursday that it found “appalling and outrageous” misconduct within the defunct Minnesota Gang Task Force, including officers who took televisions and jewelry for their own use or interrogated people with no gang ties.

It also couldn’t account for $11,000 in missing cash.

Former federal prosecutor Andy Luger, who co-chaired the panel along with retired FBI agent John Engelhof, said they never expected to find such “egregious” activity by Minnesota law enforcement officers. The team included more than 30 officers from 13 law enforcement agencies.

“Perhaps 10 or more lost their way and engaged in conduct that never would have been tolerated at their home agencies,” Luger said. He said some officers considered themselves “money police,” seizing cash and property they believed would help make up for funding cuts.

Officers also are accused of targeting people who weren’t connected to gangs and often minorities, Luger said. In one case, $4,500 in cash was taken from a Hispanic man who legally had the money as a construction crew foreman.

[…]

The report released Thursday said that hours after the audit’s release, some task force officers shredded documents and several storage bins were filled with paper that would have been shredded by a professional disposal company had they not been discovered.

The strike force was permanently shut down last month after authorities said its problems — including missing cash and evidence, and poor record keeping — were too severe to fix.

Luger said he believes some task force members committed felonies, though he and Engelhof were unable to determine whether any of the nearly $11,000 in cash still missing was stolen by officers. An FBI investigation is ongoing.

No criminal charges have been filed, and the names of officers included in the report weren’t released. Luger said several refused to cooperate. He also said he didn’t believe the panel’s findings would jeopardize any criminal cases because the task force had a dismal record of turning its work into prosecutions.

The report said some strike force employees — including police officers — repeatedly took seized property for their personal use such as expensive TVs, jewelry, computer and electronic equipment, personal watercraft and even an ice auger. Many of those items were stolen by criminal suspects and could have been returned to their rightful owners, the report said.

In one investigation, task force members seized 70 new watches. The case file said 20 were given to a jeweler to sell and return profits to the task force — but the jeweler told investigators he had declined to take the watches.

The watches are still missing, and Luger said it’s reasonable to conclude they were taken by officers or employees.

There’s a video link at the report.

It should surprise no one that a group given the power to collect what gangs call “taxes” would continue to do so even from people not involved in gang activity. Just as gangs “tax” dealers who work their territory, they also extort money from businesses and innocent bystanders. Even police officers like the ones in this story can fall prey to the temptation to extort money from people when they are given the authority to collect part of their own funding.

Gangs are not full of people who started out their career looking to be a “good guy.” Legalize pot and gangs will still “tax” the now legal pot dealers, and when those dealers go to the police they will be handled like any other snitch on the streets. Drugs fund gangs, but they don’t fuel gangs. The only reduction in crime that will come from legalization would be the elimination of possession beefs. But most people charged with possession aren’t recreational users, so they will likely continue on their criminal way.

Gangs, and unfortunately the cops above began operating as a gang, will not disappear or change when financial realities change. They will continue to commit crimes to stay in business and legalization will not change that. So let’s have an honest debate about legalization without the canard that you being able to smoke pot legally will magically make crime disappear.

h/t Knight of Pan