COP DEVICE NO PEEPER

The device cops use to weed out dope growers doesn't peer into
people's personal lives, a police expert said yesterday.

Const. Roger Morrison testified digital recording ammeters only
measure household electricity use. Morrison told prosecutor Eleanor
Funk the equipment, which has helped police find about 400 grow
operations, can't detect goings-on inside homes.

"Can you tell when someone is sitting in a bath, or a hot tub, or
taking a shower?" Funk asked. "No," said Morrison, head of the joint
Calgary police and RCMP Southern Alberta Marijuana Investigation Team.

"Can you determine religious convictions ... or sexual orientation?"
the prosecutor asked. "No," Morrison said.

The cop was testifying at the trial of suspected marijuana grower
Daniel James Gomboc.

Gomboc, 30, faces charges of possession of marijuana for the purpose
of trafficking and cultivation in connection with a police raid on
his Summercrest St. S.W. home Feb. 3, 2004.