CITY POLICE FAULTED FOR CONDUCT ON DRUG RAIDS

Vancouver police should have consulted a lawyer before destroying property
during drug raids and conducting searches without warrants, says a report
released Friday by the Police Complaints Commissioner.

The report, prepared by B.C.'s former chief coroner, Larry Campbell, was
sparked by articles in The Vancouver Sun that raised questions about police
tactics.

When police received legal opinions that questioned the legality of some of
their actions in fighting the city's booming marijuana trade, police were
quick to change them, Campbell's report found.

But he added police should have sought such legal advice before launching
the program.

"It is obvious that not all procedures were well thought out," the report
states. "While it is inevitable that a new initiative will be seen as a
work in progress, it is necessary to do proper planning. ... If this is not
done, perceptions of improper conduct can occur and discord will develop."

Campbell said the police department program, known as "Grow Busters," is
now operating within the law.

The review of the program, ordered by commissioner Don Morrison on May 11,
will be forwarded to the Vancouver police board.

Morrison ordered the review after The Sun published excerpts of internal
e-mails and memos that revealed several members of the force's drug squad
opposed the department's policy of not charging marijuana growers so it
could devote more resources to raids.

The internal documents, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, also
showed police conducted searches without warrants and destroyed private
property -- even though senior officers were warned such actions might be
against the law.

In his report, Campbell concluded there was "no evidence to indicate
[Vancouver police] knowingly violated any federal or provincial acts or
statutes."

But at a news conference Friday, he said: "I think it could have been
better thought out at the start."

One of the key recommendations in Campbell's report is that "policies and
procedures are developed to ensure that all new initiatives within the
Vancouver police department are thoroughly examined and all issues
addressed before they become operative."

A police spokesman, Detective Scott Driemel, said Friday the department
will make more of an effort in the future to ensure its operations are
within the law.

"We don't profess to be legal experts," Driemel said. "Will we obtain more
legal advice in the future? Absolutely. . . . We recognize the fact that if
you can do your homework before starting a program, it's a genuine asset to
the program."

Campbell's report also concludes there were "serious communication gaps"
within the department that meant the concerns raised by some officers were
not addressed in a timely manner.

"Some of the concerns were legitimate and lead to changes in the procedures
utilized by [Grow Busters]," it states.

Last December The Sun reported that Grow Busters, a team of patrol officers
set up a year earlier, had not recommended charges against a single suspect
despite raiding more than 100 growing operations.

Police defended the policy by saying resources were better spent conducting
more raids and devoting less time to building criminal cases.

At the time, some civil libertarians argued that using search warrants to
disrupt growing operations -- rather than to gather evidence for a criminal
charge -- was an abuse of police power.

Campbell's report reveals police received similar advice.

A legal opinion provided to the department stated that, while police have
discretion whether or not to charge in any given case, "it is our opinion
that police officers should not use the search warrant process intending
never to make an arrest or recommend that the Crown approve criminal charges."

The legal opinion went on to argue the department could be vulnerable to
complaints under the Police Act if "criminal charges had never resulted
from any of the squad's activities".

Since then, Grow Busters has been amalgamated into the drug squad, but the
combined team still only recommends charges in about 17 per cent of its
raids. That is well below the charge rate in other Lower Mainland
municipalities -- which charge in the majority of cases -- but Driemel said
that is a reflection of the sheer volume of growing operations in the city.

If the department were to charge more growers, Driemel said, it would not
be able to devote as much time to raids.

"There's a difference between what we'd like to do and what we can do with
our resources," he said.

In a memo to Chief Constable Terry Blythe last August, a senior member of
the drug squad argued that not charging growers was a bad idea: "At the
moment, the perception that the general public has is that the police are
doing a great job. [That] when the police show up to get rid of the problem
in their neighbourhood the person is going to jail. . . . I think they
would be appalled to know different."

But Campbell's report argues neighbourhood residents agree with the focus
on raids.

"The citizens appear to have been more concerned about removing a dangerous
situation from their neighbourhood than actual charges," his report states.

Campbell's report states that "friction developed" between members of the
drug squad and Grow Busters over "philosophical differences" about how best
to fight the city's booming marijuana industry.

But since the two units were amalgamated last October, he writes, "it would
appear that a good working relationship has developed."

However, asked Friday if he had spoken to the officers who originally
complained about the no-charge policy, Campbell said he did not interview
any members of drug squad or Grow Busters during his six-week review.

Campbell said he only spoke to the heads of the two programs: Inspectors
Val Harrison and Kash Heed.

"I didn't speak to the drug squad members . . . because it was clear how
they felt about this," Campbell said. "I'm sure there are still some people
in the department that think this is a bad idea."

Campbell's report also addressed the issue of searches conducted without
warrants.

Documents obtained by The Sun revealed that, for a brief period between
November 1999, and February 2000, Vancouver police raided growing
operations, without first obtaining search warrants.

They did this by going to the suspected operations with members of the
Vancouver fire department, who have the legal authority under the Fire
Services Act to enter premises when they believe there is a fire hazard inside.

Once inside the premises, police would then seize the marijuana they found.

Campbell's report confirms Vancouver police conducted seven such raids
before receiving an opinion from the City of Vancouver's lawyer that they
had no authority to seize evidence without a warrant.

After receiving that opinion, the practice was halted, Campbell's report
states.

The third issue Campbell's report examined was the destruction of property
by Vancouver police.

In a memo sent last Sept. 6 to Inspector Wayne Melymick, head of special
investigations, a drug squad officer who was seconded to the Grow Busters
team said he witnessed property being routinely destroyed during raids.

The memo's author wrote that while he believes police have the authority to
seize marijuana and growing equipment as evidence, "I can find no
authorization for police members . . . to destroy property, even if it is
property used to produce an illegal substance. . . . In the long run this
practice will damage this department's credibility and could result in both
civil and possible criminal sanctions against our members if continued."

Police have said they stopped damaging growing equipment last fall after
receiving legal advice saying equipment could not be destroyed unless it
poses a safety hazard.

However, in May, landlord Henry Chen provided The Sun with photographs he
took following a raid on a tenant's marijuana growing operation on Feb. 28.

The photographs, taken at Chen's Victoria Drive townhouse, show a fan
broken in two, transformers disconnected, power sockets smashed and
crumpled reflective sheets.

While he did not witness the raid himself, Chen said at the time he
believed police were responsible for the damage.

"It would have to be the police," he said. "It was done very systematically."

At the time, Vancouver police refused to say whether their officers were
responsible for the damage, citing Campbell's ongoing review.

On Friday, Driemel said he could not say whether Vancouver police were
responsible for the damage because the officer responsible for the section
- -- Inspector Val Harrison -- is on holidays.

Campbell himself briefly addressed Chen's allegations in his report.

"Since [Chen] was the landlord and not the person who owned the property,
it is difficult to say what condition the premises were in prior to the
search," he wrote.

However, Campbell said he made no effort during his review to interview the
officers involved in the raid to ask them if they were responsible for the
property destruction.

Campbell and Morrison met with Blythe on Thursday to discuss the report and
the Vancouver police said Friday they will do their best to act on
Campbell's recommendations.

On July 10, Vancouver city council will vote on a recommendation that it
support the continuation of the Grow Busters program for another year. The
report recommends increasing the inspection fee levied against landlords
from $700 to $1,000 to help recover more of the costs of operating the
program. Such inspections are required to have a property declared
habitable after a raid.

As of July 1, according to police, Grow Busters has shut down 607 growing
operations.