How Pennsylvania state troopers conduct illegal traffic searches. • Spotlight PA

'Highway Stop-and-Frisk'

About our 'Highway Stop-and-Frisk' coverage

How Pennsylvania state troopers conduct illegal traffic searches.

Legal experts say civil forfeiture is a form of “highway robbery,” in which police take money — largely from people of color — to pad their yearly budgets and those of prosecutors.

How Pa. state troopers seize big money from drivers, many of whom are never charged

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA and Joshua Vaughn of The Appeal

An investigation by The Appeal and Spotlight PA found that troopers in three counties have taken drivers’ money with little evidence, sometimes the result of illegal searches.

The state inspector general will determine if protocols are followed and training is sufficient.

Pa. inspector general reviewing legality of some state police traffic stops, searches

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA

To justify their searches, state police often claimed that a driver was nervous, sweating, or eating.

Highway ‘stop-and-frisk’: How Pennsylvania state troopers conduct illegal traffic searches

by Joseph Darius Jaafari of Spotlight PA and Joshua Vaughn of The Appeal

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