Pubdate: Fri, 04 Dec 2015
Source: Alaska Dispatch News (AK)
Column: Highly Informed
Copyright: 2015 Alaska Dispatch Publishing
Contact:  http://www.adn.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/18
Note: Anchorage Daily News until July '14
Author: Scott Woodham

HOW WILL ALASKA COPS HANDLE REPORTS OF POT THEFT AFTER LEGALIZATION?

This week "Peabody" wonders, "If someone was robbed for marijuana, 
how would law enforcement officers choose to respond, if at all?"

After polling Alaska's major law enforcement departments, the 
conclusion is pretty clear. If your legally compliant home garden or 
pot stash is robbed, pinched, cropped or burgled, you should not fear 
legal repercussions by reporting (unless you have other dirt going 
on), and officers will investigate your complaint like any other 
property crime. But that's not to say everyone will suddenly feel 
entirely comfortable identifying themselves as cannabis growers or 
victims of theft. People are still free not to report crimes for 
whatever reason they wish.

Megan Peters, public information officer for the Alaska State 
Troopers, said, "We can't help you unless you report it. But you as a 
victim have to decide whether to report it."

This may come as some surprise, but when it comes to this question, 
the legal status of cannabis hasn't mattered. Theft is still theft, 
just as robbery is still robbery. It's just that until recently, 
potentially alerting law enforcement to illegal behavior has been a 
strong deterrent to reporting such property crimes. And make no 
mistake, police do indeed investigate evidence of all crimes. If 
they're called to your house for one thing and discover evidence of 
other crimes, they are likely to follow up on those.

When it comes to investigating crimes involving marijuana, Peters 
said: "The Alaska State Troopers will continue to objectively 
evaluate complaints of crimes committed against persons or property 
- -- regardless as to whether the complaint involves the legal or 
illegal cultivation, possession, transportation, delivery or sale of 
marijuana."

Departments in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Wasilla and Palmer all 
expressed a variation of the same duty, that property crime involving 
marijuana or indoor-grow equipment is not treated differently from 
any other similar theft. Because of the uniformity of the responses, 
it's safe to assume the same goes for every department statewide, but 
if officials I didn't speak to read this and wish to add additional 
comments or sign onto what was said by other departments here, I'll 
update this column.

Investigator Dan Bennett, assigned as his department's public 
information officer, said, "The Wasilla Police Department would treat 
such a crime no different than a legally owned TV or other legally 
owned property." Bennett was speaking for his own department there, 
but his response there is representative of each department's 
response when asked specifically about legally compliant home gardens.

Fairbanks Police Department spokesperson Officer Doug Welborn said 
the theft of a home grow would be no different than the theft of 
"carrots, plants or flowers."

Referring to activity involving cannabis that may go beyond what's 
allowed, Welborn made an analogy to a situation involving another 
sort of criminal, often stigmatized behavior: "I received an inquiry 
a while back about a known prostitute (acting in that capacity at the 
time) who was robbed. Even though that person may have been 
conducting illegal activity at the time, they are still a victim and 
the case would be investigated as any other robbery would be."

Jennifer Castro, communications director for the Anchorage Police 
Department, said, "We already investigate armed robberies (home 
invasions and commercial businesses) regardless of the items taken. 
This is a violent crime. Burglaries to homes and businesses are also 
serious felonies and would continue to be investigated as well."

"In both crimes, the items taken from a person or location only need 
to be in legal possession of the victim to charge the suspect," 
Castro explained. "Sometimes the chance of later recovery of the 
property can be difficult for items that don't have identifiers on 
them such as serial numbers, engraving, etc. and this could pose a 
challenge for someone who for instance is trying to claim a pot plant 
is theirs (as with all property in proving that it belongs to you)."

Investigations have to start somewhere

It may give some long-time cannabis enthusiasts a queasy feeling to 
document their home grows so soon after the end of cannabis 
prohibition in Alaska, but it would be wise for home gardeners to 
record identifying information of equipment, and document as much as 
possible to establish ownership if anything gets stolen. But it has 
always been smart to document valuables that unsavory people may want 
to steal for themselves. Since plants and cured buds don't have 
serial numbers, it may be difficult to prove ownership of everything 
taken, but any investigation has to start somewhere.

All other circumstances aside, nothing has changed regarding property 
crimes themselves after certain amounts of cannabis became 
unequivocally legal to grow and possess in and out of the home. That 
duty to investigate will also remain the same when the legal, 
licensed industry comes online. The main change may come in society 
rather than law enforcement -- in other words, when people may start 
to feel safer in reporting crimes against them and their cannabis plants.

For the time being, grows for medical card holders and home grows of 
six plants, three of which can be flowering, are the only iron-clad 
no-sweat legal grows, and those are likely the ones people least fear 
reporting crimes against, although persistent stigma and consequences 
other than legal ones still may keep some theft victims from 
reporting loss of cannabis or related equipment.

Palmer Police Chief Lance Ketterling said that in his jurisdiction 
he's not aware of any legal home grows being reported stolen or 
robbed, but that in the past large grows there have sometimes been targeted.

Welborn, in Fairbanks, said his department also routinely 
investigates thefts and robberies involving illicit substances or 
activities, including those involving cannabis, but did not specify 
any recent cases of legal home grows being robbed. Troopers and 
departments in Wasilla, Palmer, Anchorage and Juneau reported no 
recent examples of thieves taking a home grow.

An ounce of prevention...

Palmer's Chief Ketterling said that because the very nature of a home 
burglary can be so dangerous, and it can leave victims feeling 
violated and fearing a host of unknowns, that his department would 
certainly investigate if it received such a report. "Having a home 
broken into is extremely traumatic, and it's something we're going to 
take seriously," he said.

Not every case is the same, but that potential danger is perhaps most 
vividly illustrated by the 2011 case in Anchorage in which a 
homeowner fatally shot two would-be robbers who broke into his home, 
where he kept a cannabis grow.

Welborn said of compliant home gardeners who may be victimized now 
that legalization has taken effect, "As long as the victim was acting 
within state regulations/laws they have nothing to fear by making the 
police report."

Castro encouraged Anchorage residents who may unfortunately become 
victims of a crime to contact police so they can assist. "People 
shouldn't have anything to fear if they are following the laws. We 
are always here to help, and to protect life and property," she said.

Palmer's Ketterling said, "If they're complying with the state laws, 
and their house is broken into, yeah, they shouldn't fear reporting to us."

Ketterling, who said that legal cannabis isn't an emotional a topic 
for his department as it may be for other communities, also offered a 
service that would help prevent property crimes in the first place.

Many thefts and burglaries result from thieves knowing about an easy 
opportunity, and for property owners, not presenting an easy target 
is wise, cannabis or not. After all, if an investment is worth 
making, it's worth protecting too.

"Any citizen in Palmer who wants any site safety inspection, please 
call," he said, "We're happy to offer that service. And it would be 
no different for this."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom