Pubdate: Fri, 11 May 2001 Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC) Copyright: 2001 The Vancouver Sun Contact: http://www.vancouversun.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477 Author: Chad Skelton Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raids.htm (Drug Raids) DRUG RAIDERS 'ROUTINELY' DESTROYED PRIVATE PROPERTY The Practice 'Will Damage This Department's Credibility,' Senior Police Officers Were Warned In their fight against the city's pot trade, Vancouver police conducted searches without warrants and destroyed private property -- even though senior officers were warned the actions might be against the law, according to documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun. Both practices have since been halted, police said this week. The documents are contained in 267 pages of internal police e-mails and memos obtained by The Sun under the Freedom of Information Act. A memo sent last Sept. 6 to Inspector Wayne Melymick, head of special investigations, raises concerns about the destruction of property by police officers on the Grow Busters team, which was set up to put pressure on growing operations -- by seizing marijuana and shutting off the home's power -- without pursuing criminal charges. The officer, who writes that he was seconded to the Grow Busters team for the month of August, recounts that during 36 raids he witnessed property being routinely destroyed. "The police and city electrical personnel ... disabled virtually any equipment used for the growing of the marijuana including light pots, fans, furnace fans, water pumps, shrouds, wires, cords, ionizers and timers," he wrote. "Most of the items were destroyed by being hit with hammers or stepped on to break them." The memo's author says that while he believes police have the authority to seize marijuana and growing equipment as evidence, "I can find no authorization for police members ... to destroy property, even if it is property used to produce an illegal substance." "I discussed this issue with Constable [name deleted]. He stated that the city electrical technicians were 'making the equipment safe.' In reality, unplugging the power and waiting 20 minutes makes all the equipment in a grow operation 'safe'," he wrote. "The goal appears to be to make the equipment unusable. [This] may be effective in frustrating the drug dealers, which is a good thing, but in the long run this practice will damage this department's credibility and could result in both civil and possible criminal sanctions against our members if continued. Inevitably, we will be questioned on our practices by the courts, the press or both. ... The damage to property is indefensible." The name of the memo's author was deleted from the copy provided to The Sun, but the author's badge number, 1662, remained. That is the badge number of Detective Constable Mike Pollard of the drug squad. Reached by phone earlier this week, Pollard refused to comment on whether he authored the memo. Inspector Val Harrison, coordinator of the Grow Busters program, said this week the department, on legal advice, has stopped destroying growing equipment and now simply seizes marijuana plants and the equipment it finds. And she disputed the memo's suggestion that property was smashed. "There was never wanton destruction," she said. "It was always carefully controlled dismantling of the grow. ... Nothing was ever smashed." In some cases, police have left the growing equipment as it is, because they did not have enough room to store it all. That poses its own problems, however, as growers have in some cases gone back to recover their equipment days later. The documents obtained by The Sun also refer to a brief pilot project - -- from November 1999 to February 2000 -- during which police entered suspected growing operations without a warrant. They gained entry by going to the suspected growing operations with members of the Vancouver fire department, who have the legal authority to enter a premises when they believe there is a fire hazard inside. Upon gaining entry, police seized the marijuana plants while a city inspector dismantled the equipment. In a memo dated Dec 9, 1999 -- from which the names of both the author and the recipient have been deleted -- an officer says members of the department's soft drug squad are strongly opposed to the pilot project. "These are warrantless entries to dwelling houses being done primarily to control criminal behaviour," the memo states. "The Supreme Court has greatly restricted police powers with regards to entries into dwelling houses, even when warrants have been obtained. It is the opinion of all members of this unit that the courts would take a very dim view of police actions should this project come to light." On Feb. 2, 2000, another memo indicates, the city received a legal opinion that police had no authority to seize property without a warrant and the pilot project was scrapped. Harrison said she did not know how many growing operations were entered without a warrant during the pilot project, but a memo dated Dec. 14, 1999 states that -- up to that date -- seven warrantless searches had been conducted by the police. Documents obtained by The Sun also raise questions about safety and the environment. In a memo sent to deputy chief John Unger on August 23, another officer whose name was deleted said he fears for the safety of untrained patrol officers dismantling growing operations. "Patrol members ... are not adhering to the ... policy whereby the Narcotics Unit 2 [the unit in charge of soft drug investigations] is to be called in to dismantle grows," the officer, identified only as the intelligence coordinator for the drug squad, writes. "This is a major safety issue. The possibility of our members encountering a booby-trapped premises, and facing dangers from electrocution, poisoning, and exposure to hazardous chemicals, explosive chemicals, herbicides and pesticides is high. ... I realize that some of our members are home electricians, but I don't think that we should wait to find out what their skill level was in the hospital or morgue." In an interview last week, Harrison said, to her knowledge, untrained officers had never dismantled electrical equipment. "It never happened," she said. The memo's author also raised concerns about the environment. "In Grow Busters cases the chemicals are ... in some cases being dumped down the toilet," the memo states. "One of the main concerns of this community is environmental and safety hazards posed by marijuana productions. Ironically, by the improper disposal of chemicals and equipment by our members, their actions are potentially creating the same hazards that the citizens are fearing. One cannot plead ignorance when there are trained personnel available to deal with these situations." Harrison said chemicals were dumped only once - in a rare situation where some were inadvertently spilled. She said officers have been told not to do it again. "That was an unfortunate incident that happened once," she said. On Thursday, The Sun published excerpts from e-mails and memos that showed several senior drug investigators strongly opposed the department's Grow Busters team. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe