SURREY GROW-OP TACTICS NOT FOR US: DELTA

Surrey's use of firefighters and municipal bylaw department officers
to fight marijuana grow operations has been given a thumbs-down
review by a senior member of the Delta Police Department.

Deputy Police Chief Rich Drinovz said the municipality looked at the
Surrey approach and decided against adopting it because it doesn't
solve the problem, but only "displaces" it to other communities.

Drinovz told the Delta Police Board's regular Wednesday meeting that
placing warning notices on the doors of suspected pot grow-ops, as
Surrey does, doesn't result in arrests.

The people who run the grow-ops will wind up their operations, but
there is nothing to stop them from trying again at another location,
Drinovz said.

"We're not completely convinced this is the way to go in Delta," he said.

The DPD prefers to go after suspected grow-ops by raiding them,
arresting suspects and laying charges.

"Have people suffer the criminal consequences of their actions,"
Drinovz said. "Instead of just losing their grow-ops, they get
arrested as well."

Drinovz also said the Delta approach discourages pot growers who flee
warning notices in Surrey from relocating to Delta.

Drinovz's comments were made during a presentation reviewing the
DPD's 2007-2010 strategic plan. Among the stated goals are making
Delta a "drug-free community" through a combination of public
education and get-tough policing.

In 2004, Surrey started the Electrical Fire Safety Initiative (EFSI),
where municipal teams that include fire, bylaws and police visit
homes where BC Hydro reports higher-than-normal power consumption.
The occupants get a warning notice that they have 72 hours to allow
an inspection. Most of the time, grow operators have packed up and
left by the time inspectors arrive.

A report by criminologist Darryl Plecas estimates grow operations in
Surrey dropped by 80 per cent as a result. Surrey Fire Chief Len
Garis conceded the EFSI Program "may have to some degree displaced
the problem to other communities" in a report to city council. That,
he said, shows the need for all Lower Mainland communities to adopt
the same approach.

- - with files from Kevin Diakiw