DRUG OPERATIONS A GROWING PROBLEM

Regina isn't necessarily going to pot, but Police Chief Cal Johnston
says marijuana grow operations are definitely becoming a fact of life
in the Queen City.

Speaking Tuesday at a meeting of the Regina Board of Police
Commissioners, Johnston said the lure of making money growing
marijuana is attracting more people to try to grow marijuana in their
homes or elsewhere.

"Indoor grow operations are prevalent across the country," Johnston
said, adding that Regina is not immune to that national trend.

Responding to a question from Mayor Pat Fiacco, Johnston said there
are several clues that an ordinary citizen might detect which suggest
a grow operation may be occurring at a particular house.

If the outside windows of a house are blocked off, that may in some
cases indicate a grow operation is inside, Johnston said.

Unusually heavy condensation on the windows of a house may also be a
clue because the humidity is usually quite high in a grow operation,
Johnston said.

Bright lights coming from a house, particularly at an unusual time of
the day when the lights would normally be off, can be another hint
that a grow operation is in place, Johnston said.

Also, if somebody is tampering with the electrical equipment, that may
also be a sign of a grow operation, Johnston said. He noted grow
operations typically use large amounts of electrical power.

Regina residents who notice suspicious activity should report the
matter to police, Johnston said.

The comments Tuesday came just a few days after the announcement last
week that the Regina Police Service had arrested five men and five
women as a result of a drug bust that involved police raids on 10
homes in Regina and the surrounding area.

Another big bust came about six months ago, when police turned up
nearly 2,000 marijuana plants following raids at seven city homes and
a business.

In other business at Tuesday's meeting, the police commission reviewed
the latest crime statistics, which indicate that both property crimes
and crimes against a person were down during the first seven months of
this year.

Break-and-entry crimes were down by 27.8 per cent, to 1,488 incidents
from January to July. That compared to 2,061 incidents in the same
period last year.

The 1,083 auto thefts represented an 8.8-per-cent decrease compared to
the same period last year.

All told there were 9,016 property crimes in the first seven months of
the year, which represented a 13.3-per-cent decrease.

The 1,955 crimes against a person (murders, attempted murders, sexual
assaults, assaults etc.) reported in the first seven months
represented an 8.5-per-cent decrease compared to the January-to-July
period last year.

But the murder rate was up. Three homicides were reported during the
first seven months of this year, compared to only one in the same
period in 2005.