I thought this remark, made off-hand by Glenn Reynolds in the context of vehicle confiscations being a major source of revenue to municipalities, was thought-provoking:
I don’t think law enforcement should turn a profit. When it does, it shades too easily into piracy.
Indeed. Putting down the police-as-pirate phenomenon was a great achievement of the rule of law. It would be a tragedy to lose it.
Internet Scofflaw 