NEWS: "Man's home 'invaded' by government search of fish tanks" CBC news

[SauceBoss]

Reading through the entire article, I would be lying to say I wasn't disgusted

[Veng68]

Lucky he was not in Mission......... a couple years ago an inspection cost 10K now I hear it's 5K......... a lot of innocent people were caught up in that.

Cheers,
Vic

[The Grizz]

Good thing I don't live there with all my tanks, indoor pool, full suit in basement and running my shop they would be at my gate every month AND WOULD HAVE TO HAVE A WARRENT. They shouldn't have the right to force repairs especially if he was not financially able to do so. Notify his insurance company so if his house burns do to an electrical fire he has no coverage. Goverment just keeps finding ways to invade our privacy hence why I have a big gate, lots of dogs an well lets say something a little extra.

[Milad]

I want to help this guy out get some LEDs! When i got my tank up with MH, I always wondered/joked that someone was going to come knock on my door because of all the light and huge increase in electrical bills! Its interesting that it actually happened to someone!

[FitoPharmer]

Wow, when you read the fire cheif saying: “When we get in there, the operators have pulled out all the plants and left,” said Garis. He also said he can’t remember a single inspection that led to criminal charges.

“Possibly in the early days there were charges, but I’m not aware of any,” said Garis.

It is really pointing towards a cash grab, and away from caring about public safety.

I should also add I have had a very nice officer check out my tank on a report that it was a grow op. He agreed that anyone considering a grow op in their hallway, where my tank was, would not have the IQ to grow plants. You could see the tanks from my front step.

[mark]

2253 homes so far? Amazed I haven't hear more outrage with this.

[troni]

I'm shocked that your all shocked. It didn't start with this but its the biggest example..."the harper government."

[Spiny]

Originally Posted by troni

I'm shocked that your all shocked. It didn't start with this but its the biggest example..."the harper government."

The conservative government formed a minority government in 2006, this program dates from 2005. Plus, the RCMP acted upon as the result of a complaint from the city. You can check your political agenda at the door; that kind of comments will ultimately get this interesting thread locked.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by sphelps

I didn't know using a certain amount of hydro is considered probable cause for a search warrant.

It is in BC. BC is "Bud Capital" ya know.

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Myka

It is in BC. BC is "Bud Capital" ya know.

Doesn't matter. From an article:

It was well before Fall of 1997, and police were trying to collect evidence to bust "Bob Erb". When they came up empty-handed, officers likely decided it was time to make something up. So they made a call on BC Hydro, and asked how much power Erb was using. Police then went to a JP with the claim that Erb's usage was abnormally high and secured a warrant to bust him in August.

When Erb discovered how they had obtained the warrant, he called up BC Hydro himself, and got a very different story.

"The BC Hydro manager said he could not tell by expenditure whether it was a grow operation or not," says Erb, "he also said they don't speculate to the police about that. He told me that every family is different. Some families have all the lights on outside all night long, a hot tub, powertools, a shop, while others don't?"

The Hydro manager was also prepared to testify in court. But Erb's case didn't make it that far. His case was dropped in November of 1998. Erb wanted to go to court to reveal how police sometimes lie to obtain warrants.

"I was denied the right to a preliminary hearing to cross examine the officer," Bob Erb recalls. "We know that the charges were stayed, but we don't know why. My lawyer was the former prosecutor. Now he won't tell me why the charges were stayed. He has left town and is not returning my calls."

More astute police officers might claim that they skirted the boundaries of the property and did not see a hot tub, a shop or anything else to indicate an unusually high power usage. According to John Conroy, it still may not be enough for police to justify their warrants in court. He recalls a case known as "Regina vs Wayne Hiney," in which Stanley Tessmer appeared as counsel.

"Police said no other visible signs of consumption were evident that would account for elevated use of hydro," Conroy says, "But the officer also admitted that her view of the yard was obstructed, so the officer may not have been able to see if there was a hot tub."

As a result of Tessmer's cross-examination, the police claim that Hiney had unusually high hydro consumption was struck from evidence.

Basically a warrant obtained for the bases of high usage along will not hold up in court and chances are getting a warrant based on that alone is no longer possible.

The hole letter thing has nothing to do with busting operations, it's a simple means of disrupting them. If a grower got the letter they would likely move their plants rather than taking any risks.