GROW OP PROGRAM LAUDED

A local effort to tackle the problem of marijuana grow ops has won a
prestigious award.

Surrey Fire Chief Len Garis was in Victoria at Government House today
(Friday) accepting the first annual Lieutenant Governor's Award For
Public Safety.

Garis attended with Dr. Darryl Plecas of the University College of the
Fraser Valley, who helped develop the program in which firefighters
assist in taking down pot grow operations.

B.C. Lieutenant Governor Iona Campagnolo presented the award Friday
evening.

"This innovative and successful approach focuses on the fire and
electrical risks associated with grow ops rather than the issue of
criminality," Campagnolo said in a release this week. "It demonstrates
the value of different agencies in the community working together to
devise new approaches to old problems."

Garis said Wednesday he was flattered by the recognition.

The program involves police, fire and bylaw cooperation in shutting
down suspected grow ops.

"When we were building our team, a lot of the challenges were bringing
separate organizations with competing interests together and getting
them to think along the same lines," Garis said. "The most gratifying
thing is the people who are operating this thing - they own it - I
can't even get in the way of it."

The team uses several sophisticated methods to locate suspected
marijuana grow operations.

Once they are identified, a request is left at the door to permit an
inspection within 48 hours. Failure to comply results in power being
shut off to the home.

During a 90-day demonstration period in Surrey, a five-person team
disrupted hydro to 119 grow operations, which draw huge amounts of
hydro to run growing lamps.

"In that same 90-day period, the Surrey RCMP detachment took down 75
grow operations - 28 by the green team and 47 by uniformed officers,"
Garis noted in a report to council.

"Based on the statistics, it is clear that the (new) system is able to
meet its objectives less expensively and more efficiently than the
criminal justice system."

The Lieutenant Governor's Award for Public Safety will be presented
annually to an organization and/or individual to honour exceptional
leadership, innovation or achievement in the promotion of safety in
B.C.