Fitness Quote by Michelle Alexander
““As if the free military equipment, training, and cash grants were not enough, the Reagan administration provided law enforcement with yet another financial incentive to devote extraordinary resources to drug law enforcement, rather than more serious crimes: state and local law enforcement agencies were granted the authority to keep, for their own use, the vast majority of cash and assets they seize when waging the drug war. This dramatic change in policy gave state and local police an enormous stake in the War on Drugs - not in its success, but in its perpetual existence. Law enforcement gained a pecuniary interest not only in the forfeited property, but in the profitability of the drug market itself.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander, 2010
The war on drugs creates financial incentives for police, turning enforcement into a profit‑driven enterprise that perpetuates the drug war.
In simple terms: Police profit from drug arrests, sustaining the war.
Key Takeaway
Recognize and challenge profit‑driven policing.
Themes
justice
policy
economics
law enforcement
Mood
critical
analytical
Type
policy
explanatory
When to use this quote
- community policing
- legislative advocacy
- public awareness campaigns
- budget analysis
- null
Key Concepts
political economy
criminal justice reform
perverse incentives
Questions to Reflect On
- How can communities reduce police financial stakes?
- What alternatives exist to fund law enforcement?
A Different Perspective
Reforms may be undermined by entrenched interests.
![“[T]ake the war on drugs. The average American says, "The war on drugs has been beneficial." The rest of us see reality. This war has destroyed thousands of Americans. It is also a pretext for government agents to rob innocent people in airports and on the highways - they seize and confiscate large…” quote by Jacob G. Hornberger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/cfe/jacob-g-hornberger-22243_agents_t-ake-the-war-on-drugs-the-average-ameri_2640276.jpg)
![“[T]he slave went free; stood a brief moment in the sun; then moved back again toward slavery. —W.E.B Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America For” quote by Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/fdb/michelle-alexander-750_time_t-he-slave-went-free-stood-a-brief-momen_96485.jpg)
