(exciting music) - I'm Starla Sampaco in the Crosscut KCTS 9 newsroom.

Every year, police in Washington seize and then sell or use millions of dollars of property connected to a crime, like cash, cars and homes.

It's called civil forfeiture and a new Crosscut series concludes that this state has few constraints on civil asset forfeiture.

Forfeiture actions rarely end up in court.

If they do, police just need to prove that it's more likely than not the property was crime connected, a much lower bar than the beyond a reasonable doubt standard.

Asset forfeiture is increasingly used as an addition or alternative to criminal prosecution, especially in drug cases.

In one, the city of Seattle is trying to seize houses and family savings from a man who pleaded guilty three years ago to a misdemeanor drug charge, saying assets were connected to crime.

Forfeiture is also relied on to pay for policing.

In 2020, $11.9 million was taken in.

I'm Starla Sampaco.

Find the Civil Forfeiture Series on crosscut.com.