The Most Disturbing Sight at the Gay Pride Parade

Larger ImagePolice Superintendent Phil Cline

The guy sitting in back on the driver’s side and wearing a white shirt is Police Superintendent Phil Cline, who’s retiring soon—probably a little sooner than he planned, due to the Abbate mess. Given the long history of police harrassment of gays, transvestites and, well, almost every other group represented at the parade, it is kind of nice to see police brass showing some respect.

But check out that cool car he’s riding in. Many of the nice new cars in the parade are provided by car dealers doing a favor for a local politician, but those aren’t dealer plates. Where do you suppose Superintendent Cline got a classic old muscle car like that?

According to the sign on the back, he stole it.

Larger ImageSeized Car

Well, the department seized it from a drug dealer, and maybe you can’t get too worked up about some gangster losing his sweet ride. The truth is, neither can I. Part of the reason I oppose the War On Drugs is because I don’t want recreational drugs to be distributed by hardened criminals.

That said, it’s important to remember two things: First, catching real drug dealers is hard work, so to accomodate lazy police forces, the law defines drug dealer much more broadly than many people realize. If you hand a friend a joint or a pill at a party, you are dealing drugs, and if you simply have more than some legally defined “personal use” quantity of drugs, the law defines you to be a dealer.

Second, the forfeiture laws allow police departments to seize vehicles and other property without actually convicting anyone of a crime. Through some bizarrely twisted legal logic, the police can take your stuff merely by accusing you of a crime, and then they can make you prove your innocence in court before they’ll give it back.

So while I don’t know this car’s history, it’s entirely possible that this car was taken from someone who was never caught dealing drugs and was never convicted even of possessing drugs.

So be proud of who and what you are, unless drugs are involved.