Pubdate: Fri, 08 Apr 2005 Source: Toronto Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2005 The Toronto Star Contact: http://www.thestar.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/456 Author: Betsy Powell, Crime Reporter Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) CHIEF COOL ON IDEA OF HELICOPTER 'Justification' For Helicopter Needed, Blair Says Fantino-Era Report Urged Purchase To Quell Grow Ops While Julian Fantino vigorously pressed for a police helicopter during his tenure as chief, his successor says he's not convinced a chopper is needed to patrol city skies. "A helicopter is an excellent policing tool, but I would want to see more justification before I would ask this board or this city to spend that much money," chief designate Bill Blair said yesterday at city hall, outside the regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the police services board. The civilian oversight body announced his appointment as chief Wednesday. The issue of a helicopter surfaced yesterday as board members considered a police report. It asked the city's budget advisory committee to fund a new green squad to deal with the increasing number of indoor commercial marijuana grow operations. Police estimate the team's start-up budget would be about $2.1 million in staff and equipment costs. In 2004, the drug squad "attended, assessed and assisted with the investigation and dismantling of 320 grow operations," the report dated Feb. 22 said. Signed by Fantino, it added that police need more resources if they are to stem the tide. The report says Toronto's lack of a helicopter with forward looking infra-red (FLIR) capability is causing concern that Toronto "is gaining a reputation within the criminal element for being an attractive location for grow operations." Both York and Durham Region police services are having some success in quelling the spread of grow ops using helicopters with the technology to help detect grow ops in suburban dwellings, Staff Insp. Dan Hayes, head of the drug squad and the report's author, told board members. Outside the meeting, Hayes said that someone with the "inclination" to set up a grow op might look to an area without a police helicopter. Yet he added a helicopter isn't "anywhere near the top of the list" in terms of what police require to deal with the influx of grow ops. Board members, agreeing that the issue of grow ops urgently needs attention, agreed to forward the report to city council. Blair said he backs the proposed green team. He noted it was city councillors who asked police to submit a report on what was needed to fight grow ops. Right now, grow-op investigations are consuming so many resources that police are sometimes not busting the "low-paid individuals" often found tending the plants. "We often will find ourselves in the position of taking out smaller marijuana grow operations but not wanting to tie up a lot of court resources and police resources in attempting to basically lock up the people who've been getting their fingers dirty watering plants. What we'd rather do is go after the organized criminal groups," Blair said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom