GROW-OP BUSTER OFFERED TO LANDLORDS

A private security company under contract to the City of Chilliwack is
offering landlords a service to detect marijuana grow-operations using
a mobile heat-seeking device.

Brian Gladstone, CEO at Griffin Investigation & Securities Ltd., said
the service, the first of its kind that he is aware of, will be
offered throughout the Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland and Greater Vancouver.

He said the $14,000 mobile FLIR (Forward Looking Infra Red camera) is
not as powerful as those that can detect human bodies, so privacy
should not be an issue.

"We're not out there trying to see people in their homes or what
they're up to," he said.

However, the unit can measure the "heat signature" of a rental
property and detect the greater amount of heat required by a marijuana
grow-operation.

The inspection would normally take place from the roadside, at night,
without entering the property.

Gladstone said once a grow-op is indicated, the property owner can
give the tenant two-weeks notice of a physical inspection of the
rental unit.

A marijuana grower would then likely quickly dismantle the
equipment.

"They're not going to want their grow-op found," he
said.

Property owners who buy into the service will also be able to advise
prospective tenants that FLIR inspections will take place on a monthly
basis.

"The whole idea is to prevent (grow-ops)," Gladstone said. "I hope we
never find one."

The $75 fee for the monthly FLIR inspection is a small price to pay
for the thousands of dollars in remedial work that landlords face when
a rental property is used for a marijuana grow operation.

Gladstone, a retired police officer, said his company came up with the
idea after doing some research and deciding it could be a money-maker
for the company and at the same time help protect landlords from
illegal marijuana growers.

"Landlords have no insurance to cover (the cleanup)," he said, which
recently cost one Mission landlord $18,000.

Griffin recently won a security contract with the City of Chilliwack,
but operates in several other Lower Mainland municipalities with a
staff of over 100 and nine security vehicles.