Scientific Definition
Police agencies that keep seized assets gain a direct fiscal interest in seizures.
Plain-English Definition
Police agencies that keep seized assets gain a direct fiscal interest in seizures.
Feynman Explanation
When the search funds the squad, the search finds something.
Core Principle
Police agencies that keep seized assets gain a direct fiscal interest in seizures.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Police agencies that keep seized assets gain a direct fiscal interest in seizures.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Self-funding enforcement bends enforcement.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
When the search funds the squad, the search finds something.
Examples
- Highway interdiction units funded by seized cash.
- Self-funding enforcement bends enforcement.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Route forfeitures to neutral funds. Require conviction.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Route forfeitures to neutral funds. Require conviction.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
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Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Charging by time rewards inefficiency and prolongs disputes.
Fixed compliance costs scale punitively for small firms and entrench large ones.
Compliance programs designed to satisfy regulators, not prevent harm.
Stacking fines on low-income defendants creates debt traps and recidivism.
Decisions made to be defensible, not to be right.
Mandatory federal sourcing from prison factories crowds out small business and entrenches inefficient production.
Contingency-fee structures shape which cases get filed.
Fixed sentencing rules remove judicial discretion and inflate incarceration without reducing crime.
Trial penalties pressure even innocent defendants to plead guilty to avoid risk.
Per-inmate funding makes incarceration a budgetary asset for jurisdictions and contractors.
Caseloads far above professional norms guarantee weak defense for the poor.
Confidential settlements buy silence and prevent precedent that would deter future harm.