Thread: Food Stamp Rule Frustrates Police

May 9, 5:16 AM EDT

Food stamp rule frustrates police in North Dakota

By JAMES McPHERSON
Associated Press Writer

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- John Schweitzer swiped his credit card, bagged his groceries and walked out of a Wal-Mart without his wallet. When he returned a moment later, it was gone.

Schweitzer's misfortune should have been an open-and-shut legal case. The thief was caught on video surveillance, and he used his own food stamp swipe card to pay for groceries before leaving with Schweitzer's wallet.

But a federal law PROHIBITING THE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION ABOUT FOOD STAMP RECIPIENTS - EVEN TO LAW ENFORCEMENT, UNLESS A SPECIFIC NAME IS PROVIDED - meant it would take months and a lot of legwork before an arrest was made.

Frustrated North Dakota law enforcement officials say the law has prevented the timely arrests in Schweitzer's case and a nearly identical theft, and wasted time and resources they could have spent on other investigations.

Federal law requires that the names of food stamp recipients be kept secret, according to The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state Department of Human Services, which heads the program in North Dakota.

Law enforcement officials "definitely have their jobs to do," said Jonathan Alm, a state Human Resources attorney. "But we also have to look at our laws, and it just so happens they are in conflict."

In Schweitzer's case, police arrested a 35-year-old suspect after releasing a picture to the public of the wallet nabber taken from Wal-Mart's security camera.

The arrest came about two months after the crime, said Detective Sgt. LeRoy Gross. "We should have had this suspect in the first day or two," Gross said.

In West Fargo, Police Detective Ken Zeeb said he's been working for more than a year on a similar investigation: a man nabbed a wallet left on a grocery store counter by the customer ahead of him in line, then paid for groceries with a food-stamp swipe card. The crime was recorded by the store's security camera.

The victim, 28-year-old Jacob Galuak, who moved from Sudan in 2003, had important immigration papers, irreplaceable pictures of his wife and two children and his rent payment in the billfold.

"I'm surprised there is a law that protects criminals," Galuak said. "I didn't see this happening in America."

The broader implications of the law are troubling, Gross said.

"What if it would have been another crime like a sexual assault incident in the store and somebody got hurt?" Gross said. "According to the food stamp people, they wouldn't give us a name."

Jean Daniel, a USDA spokeswoman in Washington, D.C. said she knew of no other cases involving law enforcement similar to those in North Dakota. "It's rare," she said.

However, Galuak said the incident has changed his opinion of life in the U.S.

"Before my big green billfold was stolen, the only crime I saw was on TV," Galuak said. "Now I know not everybody is good in America. I don't trust anybody behind me in line anymore."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... TE=DEFAULT

The laws are only enforced when it comes to the American people, the politicans and illegals seem to do whatever they want to do, overall.