JUDGE OKAYS POT INSPECTION TEAMS - WITHOUT POLICE

A landmark B.C. Supreme Court decision has upheld Surrey's initiative
to clamp down on homes suspected of containing marijuana grow operations.

However, police are no longer allowed to attend the home
inspections.

Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis launched the initiative in March 2005
after a successful pilot project in this city. Homeowners with high
power consumption are notified they will be subject to an inspection.
If the homeowner refuses, or a grow operation is found, the power to
the home is shut off.

In May 2007, the inspection team attended the home of South Surrey
residents Jason Arkinstall and Jennifer Green, who said municipal
staff could enter, but police could not. The team left without
inspection and had the power to the home shut off.

Arkinstall took the city to court over it, raising questions about the
constitutionality of the whole inspection program.

In a judgment released Friday, Justice William Smart ruled that the
Safety Standards Amendment Act, which allows electrical inspection
teams to enter residences suspected of containing grow operations,
does not violate the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

However, bringing police along for the inspection breaches Section 8
of the Charter, which protects the public against unreasonable search,
Smart found.

"A police search of a private residence, even when conducted in aid of
an electrical safety inspection, is intrusive," Smart wrote in his
ruling. "The search and police presence during the safety inspection
add a significant stigma to the inspection, imbuing it with an aura of
criminality absent from a typical electrical safety inspection. These
factors must be considered together with the very high expectation of
privacy that attaches to a private residence."

He also noted that the disconnection of power to the Arkinstall
residence was a further breach of their rights.

Garis said Monday he's extremely pleased with the ruling.

"It's an absolute win," Garis said in a cell phone interview. "What
was preserved first and foremost is the legislation."

The Supreme Court ruling validates the working relationship between
the provincial and municipal governments to shut down grow operations
using the new method, Garis said.

The fact police officers won't be able to come to the door is an easy
workaround, he said.

"It doesn't preclude them from being on the street," Garis said. "It
doesn't preclude us from using security, we still haven't wrestled
that one to the ground yet. Either way we can make work."

He said the days of pot growers using booby-trapped buildings and
guard dogs are a thing of the past, noting his team only found a
"small handful" of cases where he would consider it a property of concern.

He also noted because the program doesn't involve taking the suspected
growers to court, the threat level is minimized somewhat for the team.

"There's no risk of criminal prosecution, so the stress levels aren't
that high," Garis said.

Since its inception three years ago, the Surrey grow-op team has shut
down almost 1,000 properties suspected of containing grow operations.

Garis has anecdotal evidence many of the growers have headed to the
B.C. Interior.

The immensely popular inspection program has been mimicked by cities
across the country.

With the court ruling upholding its validity, Garis acknowledged
there's room for expansion.

"Homes that are suspected of being crack shacks or homes that are
suspected of being used for meth (crystal methamphetamine) labs, these
types of principles would be applicable to them," Garis said, adding
it's too early to go public with initiatives being considered.

"Certainly we need to start putting our thinking caps on," Garis said,
noting the court has "clearly established" the need for the safety of
people living near "these sorts of activities."

Regarding the Arkinstall problem, Garis said the program has since
been altered to avoid that type of intrusion.

"Early on in the process there were some growing pains with it," Garis
said. "I can clearly say that... all of those issues have been
addressed by way of policy revisions."

City Solicitor Craig Mcfarlane was pleased with the ruling and said
the city has no intention of appealing the decision.