APPEAL URGED IN POT RULING

Spokesmen for the police and provincial government have condemned a
court ruling that Surrey RCMP acted unreasonably when they broke down
the door to a marijuana grow op and entered with their guns drawn.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Catherine Bruce threw out the results of a
March 10, 2004 raid on a house in the 11100 block of 157A Street
because she said the officers didn't wait long enough between
knocking on the door and using a battering ram to enter the two-storey house.

The Mounties knocked on the front door but opted to use their
battering ram on a garage door on the side of the house because they
believed the front door was barricaded.

The home occupant said he heard the knocking and was heading for the
front when the police kicked the side door down and entered with
their guns drawn.

Bruce said evidence at trial shows the officers waited no more than
one or two minutes before they went to the second door.

And when they kicked the second door down, Bruce said the officers
had waited no more than five seconds between knocking on the door and
using the battering ram.

Bruce said that was a violation of the legal requirement officers
must announce their presence and allow a reasonable amount of time
for occupants to respond before forcing their way in.

"This so-called 'knock and announce' rule is not a mere formality,"
Bruce stated. "This rule is necessary to ensure the personal safety
of anyone inside the residence at the time of entry as well as the police."

Five seconds, she said, wasn't enough time for anyone inside to get
to the garage door. Bruce declared it a violation of the Charter of
Rights and Freedoms' guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure.

As a result, even though Mounties found 704 pot plants in the house
basement, that evidence can't be used.

Surrey RCMP spokesman Sgt. Roger Morrow called the ruling a
"disconcerting" decision that could "handcuff" police by restricting
their ability to have weapons ready during hazardous raids.

"This may set a dangerous precedent," Morrow warned. "We know these
people (grow operators) tend to arm themselves."

He said police hope the federal Crown prosecutor's office, which
handled the drug case, will appeal the decision.

So does Solicitor General John Les, who said the province will press
for a court challenge.

"This potentially does put police in harm's way," Les said."Are they
supposed to wait for the bad guys to lock and load?"

Murray Mollard, the executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties
Association, said the requirement to wait before breaking down a door
is not an unreasonable restriction of police powers.

Mollard says there are historical instances where haste and drawn
guns led have led to the death of innocent people which are what led
to the "knock and announce" policy.