# 5: Incentives Matter **URL:** **By** Tess Terrible **Published:** June 21, 2018 --- When law enforcement is allowed to keep the proceeds of forfeitures, they're incentivized to be more creative and aggressive about seizing properties. Due to the lack of transparency across most states and within the federal government, we simply don't know whether people are convicted of a crime when their property is taken or not. Even the Department of Justice, which tracks more details about seized property than most states, does not track whether or not forfeited property was forfeited in conjunction with any sort of criminal charges or conviction. Music by [Cellophane Sam.](https://cellophanesam.com/)