Pubdate: Sat, 29 Sep 2007
Source: Maple Ridge News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2007 Maple Ridge News
Contact:  http://www.mapleridgenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1328
Author: Jeff Nagel

'GROW OP WAR WON'

Cities are winning the war against crime on some  fronts, but face 
setbacks on others, according to  panelists at the Union of B.C. 
Municipalities  convention this past week.

Marijuana growers seem to be in rapid retreat,  especially in Surrey, 
where civic officials are poised  to declare victory over local grow-ops.

The most powerful weapon hasn't been increased  conventional 
policing, but rather the threat of  electrical inspections and 
service disconnections for  residential homes that B.C. Hydro records 
show have  extreme power consumption, a tell-tale sign of a  grow-op.

Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis told delegates the 1,000  suspected 
grow-ops identified in his city - which  were generating at least 
$600 million a year in illicit  revenue - are now thought to be 
mostly dismantled  after about a year and a half.

In many cases growers flee without waiting for  inspectors to show up.

"By the end of November, we expect we're going to be  done and we're 
going to be looking for work," Garis  said.

He said the Electrical Fire Safety Initiative teams  have succeeded 
in running off the grow-ops at no cost  to the criminal justice 
system and at a fraction of the  cost of a police investigation.

Pitt Meadows council recently extended a safety  inspection program 
for six more months.

Garis suggested other cities lodge Freedom of  Information requests 
through B.C. Hydro to find out the  number of likely grow-ops.

The tactic began as a means to protect firefighters and  other homes 
from fires that frequently arose from badly  wired grow-ops. Civic 
officials concluded the justice  system provided virtually no 
deterrent to pot growers  even when police had the time to investigate.

It's estimated two per cent of total B.C.'s total  electricity 
production is being consumed by grow-ops.

A move by B.C. Hydro towards real-time digital power  meters is 
expected to help flag suspected grow-ops more  quickly.

Garis said Surrey is now looking at regulations to  restrict stores 
that sell hydroponic equipment. B.C.  has 50 times as many such 
outlets as Washington state  and 34 times as many as in Alberta.

Meanwhile, cities are being warned that they may run  into trouble 
when they try to track criminals using  techniques that may run afoul 
of privacy laws.

New Westminster recently lost a court challenge of a  bylaw that 
required pawn shops to record information on  customers to aid police 
investigations.

Lawyer James Yearley said similar challenges may crop  up elsewhere, 
and even recordings of video cameras used  to counter crime may be 
deemed an unreasonable search  or seizure under the law.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart