COQUITLAM WANTS HYDRO TO HELP IDENTIFY GROW OPS

Coquitlam city council wants senior governments to compel BC Hydro to
immediately report any unusual or high power consumption to police.

"It's not to help the police identify where there are (marijuana) grow
operations," Coun. Louella Hollington said at Monday's council meeting.

The RCMP already know where many of them are located, she said, adding that
the change would provide police with more information when applying for
search warrants to enter premises.

"It would help them to investigate these houses quicker and easier," said
Hollington, who proposed the plan.

Coun. Diane Thorne said Coquitlam residents are negatively affected by the
presence of grow ops in their neighbourhoods.

She said she personally knows of someone whose home was mistaken for a grow
op by criminals trying to rip off marijuana plants. After seven years of
living in that neighbourhood, the person is moving away.

"So would you and I," Thorne said. "It's very scary."

Coun. Barrie Lynch said a change in legislation would be a step in the
right direction. But he said Coquitlam needs more resources.

"We only have six RCMP officers dedicated to this in the city," Lynch said.

According to Coquitlam RCMP spokesperson Const. Dave Babineau, the
Marijuana Enforcement Team has 300 leads in its tip book.

Babineau said police don't need search warrants to access BC Hydro's
customer records, as long as they are conducting a criminal investigation.

For BC Hydro to randomly provide customer information would contravene
privacy issues, however.

Babineau said the RCMP would not take a position on council's desire to
seek changes in legislation.

"It's not for us to say," he said.

There are no unreasonable delays in receiving search warrants for suspected
premises, he said, as long as the RCMP provides sufficient information in
warrant applications.

Politicians, police and firefighters recently launched a pilot project in
Surrey and Abbotsford that will allow authorities to cut power to houses
suspected of containing grow ops. The program will be evaluated after 90
days and, depending on the results, may be expanded to other cities.