One of the reason why fine collection and civil forfeiture is prioritized is because of the underfunding of police and other basic services.[0] Politicians encourage this because they cut taxes too much, and this is a way to essentially impose a tax, but not call it a tax.
The police know the game, and so you end up with these bizarre situations like when the NYPD union announced they they were going to stick it to DeBlasio by making arrests “only when necessary.”[1] (Which of course is an implicit admission that arrests were being made that weren’t necessary.) The real target was the NYC budget, because the NYPD brings in half a billion dollars a year. (Over 10 million a week) That’s insane.
Ironically, even though the police stopped citing people, crime remained low and steady.
The police know the game, and so you end up with these bizarre situations like when the NYPD union announced they they were going to stick it to DeBlasio by making arrests “only when necessary.”[1] (Which of course is an implicit admission that arrests were being made that weren’t necessary.) The real target was the NYC budget, because the NYPD brings in half a billion dollars a year. (Over 10 million a week) That’s insane. Ironically, even though the police stopped citing people, crime remained low and steady.
[0] https://www.rand.org/blog/2015/03/to-serve-and-collect.html
[1] https://www.vox.com/2015/1/6/7501953/nypd-mayor-arrests-unio...