I wonder what would be the downside of this idea? If the police have to wait for a conviction then what stops someone from selling, moving, hiding, etc the property to be forfeited?
In one-third of forfeitures, property was confiscated without a criminal conviction.
What if those assets were the only means you have of hiring a good enough lawyer to fight the charges?
What if you can't afford the greater of $2,500 or 10% of the value of the property to post bond within 30 days of being notified the property was seized? Failure to post bond automatically results in forfeiture to the government.
What if the property is a house, and it's seized for 5 years while you are prosecuted and maybe appealed the conviction. During the 5 years, who paid the mortgage? Who kept it up? Where did you live? What if you had to move from Hawaii for work? Do you just walk away from the house? What if you planned on selling, but the market dropped 25% during the time the forfeiture was being disputed?
What if it's a car -- your only means of transportation?
What if it's a bank account with your entire life savings and investments?
Whaat if it's all of the above?
Yeah, no reason to wait for a conviction. Let's destroy people's lives and make them put up even more money/property for a bond for the privilege of fighting a bogus forfeiture.