LANDLORD'S PHOTOS RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT GROW-OP RAIDS

A landlord has accused the Vancouver police of destroying property
during a raid on his tenant's marijuana growing operation earlier this
year -- months after police say the practice was halted.

The landlord, Henry Chen, provided The Vancouver Sun with photographs
showing fans, transformers and reflective shields destroyed and
dismantled following the February 28 raid.

The Vancouver police department has refused to say whether its
officers were responsible for the property destruction. But the
photographs raise questions about whether officers continued to
destroy property during drug raids well into 2001 despite public
assurances the practice was halted last fall.

"They left a big mess," Chen said. "I think they should have taken
[the equipment] with them for evidence, but they didn't ... I don't
think it's fair that they just came in here and left a mess behind.
If it's evidence, they should take it all with them."

While Chen did not witness the raid himself, he said he has little
doubt the equipment was destroyed by the police, given the methodical
manner in which items were dismantled.

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

Two weeks ago, The Sun obtained internal documents that showed police
routinely destroyed private property during drug raids, even though
senior officers were warned the actions might be against the law.

Inspector Val Harrison, coordinator of the Grow Busters program, said
in an interview earlier this month that the department, on legal
advice, had stopped destroying growing equipment and now simply seized
marijuana plants and the equipment it finds.

Asked when the policy had changed she said: "The changes have taken
place since last August, [or] September."

But photographs taken by Chen after the raid on the Victoria Drive
townhouse show a fan broken in two, transformers disconnected, power
sockets smashed and crumpled reflective sheets.

Search warrant documents confirm that Chen's property was raided by
Vancouver police on February 28.

When Harrison was asked two weeks ago how the department's policy on
property destruction had changed, she said "the only property that is
actually dismantled at the scene is where there's a clear safety issue
and the rest is seized."

For example, "fans that were bulky but didn't demonstrate a clear
safety issue would have been dismantled at the scene [before]. Now
we're just taking them."

But Chen's pictures show one fan broken in two and another that
appears to have had its blades removed.

In an interview with The Sun last December, Harrison said Vancouver
police were only dismantling equipment that was a safety hazard.

"We don't smash [equipment]. That's not the appropriate way of dealing
with things," she said. "The [officers] aren't there to make a mess
for people to have to deal with. They want to deal with the safety
aspect of this thing. Making a mess is a bit juvenile."

On May 11, as a result of reports in The Sun, the Police Complaints
Commissioner retained former chief coroner Larry Campbell to review
"police conduct, policies and procedures" surrounding its raids on
marijuana growing operations.

The Sun sent Harrison copies of Chen's photographs -- as well as the
date and location of the raid -- and asked her to comment on whether
her officers were involved in destroying property and, if so, if it
was sanctioned by the department.

Harrison originally said she would look into the matter and get back
to The Sun on Monday, but Friday afternoon sent an e-mail that did not
provide further details.

"I have received the photographs, however, due to the ongoing review
by the Police Complaints Commissioner's Office, I will not be
commenting on them," the e-mail stated. "I have forwarded the photos
to Mr. Larry Campbell who is conducting the review, with a request
that he considers them in the review. If the citizen who provided you
with the photos wishes to make a complaint, I urge him/her to do so."

Last December The Sun reported that Grow Busters had not recommended
charges against a single suspect after raiding more than 100 growing
operations over the past year.

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

Two weeks ago, The Sun published excerpts from e-mails and memos about
Grow Busters contained in 267 pages of internal police documents
obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

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 36 raids.

"The police and city electrical personnel ... disabled virtually any
equipment used for the growing of the marijuana including light pots,
fans, furnace fans, water pumps, shrouds, wires, cords, ionizers and
timers," he wrote. "Most of the items were destroyed by being hit with
hammers or stepped on to break them."

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."

The documents also revealed several senior drug investigators strongly
opposed the department no-charge policy.

In a memo to Chief Constable Terry Blythe last August, a senior member
of the drug squad wrote: "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."

Grow Busters has since been amalgamated into the drug squad, but the
combined team still only recommends charges in about 17 per cent of
its raids.