MLA URGING GOV'T TO APPEAL GROW-OP RULING

NDP public safety critic Mike Farnworth called yesterday for an
appeal of a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that threw out evidence
gathered in a raid on a large grow-op because the police were too
aggressive in their entry.

Although Surrey RCMP had a legal warrant to enter the upscale
residence on 157A Street four years ago and knocked on the front door first,

Justice Catherine Bruce ruled this week that they "created a real
risk of harm to an occupant" by knocking down a side door, where they
did not "knock and announce."

Police knocked on the front door and, receiving no answer, went to
the side entrance, where they used a battering ram to knock down the
door. They entered the house with guns drawn.

Inside the home, police found a grow-op with 704 marijuana plants.

"This has potentially the ability to hamper the ability of the police
to do their job in busting grow-ops, which are an increasing concern
to residents particularly in the suburbs, where more and more houses
are being used for grow-ops," said Farnworth, MLA for Port
Coquitlam-Burke Mountain.

"Going up to a house where you don't know what you're dealing with is
a very risky thing these days, particularly given what we've seen
with gangs and gang violence."

Although Farnworth urged B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal to launch
an appeal, Stan Lowe of the criminal justice branch said the decision
to appeal rests with federal authorities since it is a drug case.

Bruce said in her ruling that the methods used appear to be "standard
practice" for Surrey RCMP.

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts called the ruling "absurd."