TORY PLANS NOT UNDERMINING PROPOSED NPD DIRECTION

FEDERAL LAW AT THE LOCAL LEVEL: Last week's announcement in Ottawa
that the Conservatives tightening up grow-op legislation not contrary
to what local police have in mind

The Nelson Police Department says its proposed new bylaw aimed at
rooting out grow ops without criminal charges is not at odds with the
federal government's new crime bill that would impose harsher
penalties on marijuana growers.

Last week the federal government reintroduced Bill S-10, which would
impose a minimum six-month sentence on anyone convicted of growing as
few as five marijuana plants.

On the same day The Nelson Daily News reported that the City of
Nelson and the Nelson Police Department are setting to work on a
bylaw that would see police and fire officials conduct a mandatory
fire inspection on homes suspected of harbouring marijuana grow operations.

The home owners would be given 48 hours notice to get rid of their
plants before city officials would come inside to do the inspection.

The two laws might seem at odds with one another, but Nelson Police
Department Chief, Dan Maluta said the plan is to target higher-level
grow operations with criminal charges and use the bylaw to get rid of
smaller operations that they don't have the time or resources to deal with.

"The fact that we're pursuing the grow op bylaw doesn't go in
contrast or run contrary to their direction," Maluta said. "It just
means that for us we're going to be utilizing another tool besides
the criminal courts to deal with grow ops."

Maluta said the NPD has, at any one time, about 12 active files on
grow ops in the city and they usually manage to successfully pursue
about four of those due to the necessary channels in the criminal
justice system.

He said the new bylaw will allow police to root out the lower-level
operations and focus their attention more closely on higher-level operations.

"For example, if there are some serious criminal targets, repeat
offenders or grows we believe are of a high commercial nature, or
associated to gang activity, they're definitely our first priority
and we'd be going after those under the Controlled Drugs and
Substances Act," Maluta noted.

"But we can't get to them all. And those that are not so high on the
radar, they could be dealt with though the grow op bylaw."

He said removing the smaller operations will make neighbourhoods
safer by removing the fire hazard and the potential for home
invasions posed by grow ops.

Nelson RCMP Staff Sergeant, Dan Siebel has experience with a similar
bylaw imposed by the City of Richmond and says he's in favour of the
City of Nelson enacting such a bylaw.

He said the bylaw was carried out by teams consisting of police, fire
officials and an employee of the city who would go to residences and
give 24 hours notice of a pending inspection.

"The success rate on those as far as finding evidence of a marijuana
grow or an electrical bypass was very high," Siebel said. "So
obviously they were picking and choosing the ones based on power
consumption or other evidence."

"I would certainly . . . be supportive of such a bylaw (in Nelson)."