CRACKDOWN ON GROW-OPS, SAY POLICE IN WAKE OF SHOOTINGS

Police officials across Canada were calling Friday for tougher
measures to fight the growing illicit marijuana trade in the wake of
the shooting deaths of four Alberta Mounties on Thursday.

In Ottawa, Chief Vince Bevan -- a consistent critic of lenient
marijuana laws and an advocate of tougher gun laws and the need for a
competent gun registry -- pulled no punches when pinpointing blame for
Canada's spiralling scourge of illegal grow-ops.

"This is a serious problem not being adequately dealt with by
Parliament," he said. "Through sentencing and legislation, we are not
treating grow-ops seriously."

He talks of the problem as a recent, now four-year "plague" which
began in British Columbia, then moved over the Rocky Mountains and
steamrolled into Ontario and Quebec before completing its
cross-country invasion.

The slaying of the four RCMP officers in Mayerthorpe, Alta., shocked
and saddened cops across Canada.

News of the shooting deaths at the hands of a seemingly crazed gunman
- -- during what should have been a routine grow-op raid -- had
enforcement officers asking what went wrong, and pondering what can be
done in the future to ensure such a tragedy is not repeated.

Bevin said all grow-ops hold the potential for life-threatening
harm.

"There are dangerous situations going in and officers can never get
overconfident with them," said Bevan, still reeling at the events in
Mayerthorpe, northwest of Edmonton. "Many times, we've executed drug
busts and found weapons or locations booby-trapped and these people
don't seem to care whether they shoot at police officers or rival gangs."

Bevan wasn't alone in his opinion.

Across the country, police officials said the deaths are also a
two-fold wake-up call: for officers to be ever vigilant while on the
job, and for Canadians to recognize the dangers of the illegal
marijuana trade.

In Winnipeg, police chief Jack Ewatski said Friday the deaths
highlight the need for police officers everywhere not to become
complacent even in the most routine of duties. "We are in a profession
where we could be hurt and we could be killed," Ewatski said.
"Obviously, people will use force to guard this valuable commodity."

Not everyone is convinced grow-ops are the threat they are being made
out to be, however.

Prominent Toronto defence lawyer Peter Zaduk - who has represented
defendants in more than 150 grow-op prosecutions in southern Ontario
- - said stronger penalties for grow-ops might scare away small-time
operators, but "the vacuum will be filled by the people who are
willing to take the risks."

Zaduk also dismissed as nonsense suggestions by police and Public
Safety Minister Anne McLellan that grow ops are run by violent members
of organized crime groups.

"These are mostly franchises, run by people who hire others to do the
wiring for them. There is an element of organization, but not
organized crime in the traditional sense," said Zaduk. "There are no
triads."

Zaduk downplayed the risk of violence in police raids on grow ops,
noting that in a trial in Barrie, Ont., last month, a senior Ontario
Provincial Police officer, Det.-Sgt. Rick Barnum, testified that it
had encountered violence in only two of 800 marijuana raids, said Zaduk.

Vancouver Police Department Insp. Dave Nelmes said the force treats
all grow-ops as having the potential for "a high level of danger."
That said, he added: "Our experience in Vancouver is we haven't
encountered a lot of resistance in our enforcement of marijuana grows.
We have not encountered a lot of booby traps. We've only had one or
two reports of firearms, and those were hidden away and we found them
in searches."

Nonetheless, Victoria, Police Chief Paul Battershill said all grow-ops
are potentially dangerous.

"These are not the mom and pop who are growing a few plants," he said.
These are wide-scale organized crime events and they are dangerous and
they're dangerous to the public. They are dangerous to some
electrician showing up to repair a panel if it has been booby trapped
and they're dangerous to some kid knocking on the door if there is a
paranoid guy guarding it with a gun."

Emotions were running high across the country in the wake of
Thursday's killings.

In Saskatoon, police chief Russell Sabo said Friday news of the deaths
brought of flood of memories to mind, of the myriad fine officers he
has served with over the years, as well as the risks they all take in
the line of duty.

"When I heard about the tragedy of the loss of those four RCMP
officers ... my heart went out to them," he said."We are appalled at
the loss of life in such a tragic way."