The Nevada Policy Research Institute released the first-ever geographical analysis of how the controversial civil asset forfeiture program is used by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Civil asset forfeiture is a practice whereby law enforcement officials can seize property they suspect may be connected to a crime. In certain cases, that property can be forfeited without even criminal charges being filed. For the fiscal year ending 2016, Metro reported total seizures of more than $2.1 million and total forfeitures of over $1.9 million worth of cash and property. NPRI policy analyst Daniel Honchariw analyzed the data and found that most forfeitures were for amounts less than $1,000, making it cost-prohibitive for innocent parties to contest the seizure, as the legal fees in doing so would almost certainly surpass the value of the seized property. Honchariw considers such practices a form of government theft. He adds “The most troubling aspect of this practice is that the seizing law enforcement agency directly profits from the forfeitures.