CHIEF COOL ON IDEA OF HELICOPTER

'Justification' For Helicopter Needed, Blair Says

Fantino-Era Report Urged Purchase To Quell Grow Ops

While Julian Fantino vigorously pressed for a police helicopter during his
tenure as chief, his successor says he's not convinced a chopper is needed
to patrol city skies.

"A helicopter is an excellent policing tool, but I would want to see more
justification before I would ask this board or this city to spend that much
money," chief designate Bill Blair said yesterday at city hall, outside the
regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the police services board. The
civilian oversight body announced his appointment as chief Wednesday.

The issue of a helicopter surfaced yesterday as board members considered a
police report. It asked the city's budget advisory committee to fund a new
green squad to deal with the increasing number of indoor commercial
marijuana grow operations. Police estimate the team's start-up budget would
be about $2.1 million in staff and equipment costs.

In 2004, the drug squad "attended, assessed and assisted with the
investigation and dismantling of 320 grow operations," the report dated
Feb. 22 said. Signed by Fantino, it added that police need more resources
if they are to stem the tide.

The report says Toronto's lack of a helicopter with forward looking
infra-red (FLIR) capability is causing concern that Toronto "is gaining a
reputation within the criminal element for being an attractive location for
grow operations." Both York and Durham Region police services are having
some success in quelling the spread of grow ops using helicopters with the
technology to help detect grow ops in suburban dwellings, Staff Insp. Dan
Hayes, head of the drug squad and the report's author, told board members.

Outside the meeting, Hayes said that someone with the "inclination" to set
up a grow op might look to an area without a police helicopter. Yet he
added a helicopter isn't "anywhere near the top of the list" in terms of
what police require to deal with the influx of grow ops.

Board members, agreeing that the issue of grow ops urgently needs
attention, agreed to forward the report to city council. Blair said he
backs the proposed green team. He noted it was city councillors who asked
police to submit a report on what was needed to fight grow ops.

Right now, grow-op investigations are consuming so many resources that
police are sometimes not busting the "low-paid individuals" often found
tending the plants.

"We often will find ourselves in the position of taking out smaller
marijuana grow operations but not wanting to tie up a lot of court
resources and police resources in attempting to basically lock up the
people who've been getting their fingers dirty watering plants. What we'd
rather do is go after the organized criminal groups," Blair said.