Hot mikes are so much fun. No, not this type of hot Mike, but microphones that are electrified and recording words spoken when the speakers don’t realize it. Sometimes it’s a  president (or vice).  Maybe even  the host of a children’s television show.  And sometimes it’s a cop.  Or two.  From Radley Balko :

Cops launch drug raid based on anonymous tip and a single marijuana stem found in the trash. End up raiding a home recording studio. Begin deliberations on what cool stuff they’re now permitted to take

The report, stating that police are only authorized to take property purchased with money earned from drug sales, is totally wrong.  Police are authorized to seize contraband, proceeds, substitute proceeds, and the instrumentality of a crime.  If drums aren’t instruments, than what is?

Nothing goes better with drugs than music, whether it’s jazz (the traditional gateway to drug addiction) or rock ‘n’ roll (which also goes better with coke).  And it’s hard to make music without musical instruments, right?  And that makes them the instrumentality of the crime.  And by the way, you don’t end up with a stem in the trash until you’ve fished through the baggie to separate out the buds, so let’s not harp on the “it was only a stem” factor.  Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and where there’s stems, there’s weed.  Everybody knows that.

At the scene of the crime, it’s often hard for police to figure out what exactly should be seized and what should be left behind.  If they fail to seize when the time is ripe, chances aren’t good that they can come back at some later date and grab whatever loot is left lying around.  It’s now or never, and let the courts sort it out later.

Most importantly, it’s actually good news, no great news, that the police had a burning love for musical instrumentalities as they packaged up their seizure for eventual forfeiture or, more likely, use at their next office party.  When the cops like the stuff they’re seizing, the treat it with relative care, trying their best not to damage and destroy everything they touch in the process.  As anyone who has gotten seized property back knows, it’s not always in the same condition as when taken.  One of the best businesses in town is owning the flat bed truck parked outside the police impound yard.

So before people jump on the bandwagon and criticize cops for doing their job too well, I implore you:  Think of the drums.