HEAT BACK ON ILLEGAL POT FARMS

Police Chopper Set To Fly Again

A POLICE helicopter that uses an infrared camera to weed out marijuana
grow houses was set to fly high over York Region again last night
after Canada's highest court ruled the flights are legal. York Region
police chief Armand La Barge said yesterday he was delighted to order
the resumption of the infrared flights after a five-year absence.

"This is a very handy tool and we will be using it to its fullest
ability," La Barge said.

The flights will play a key role in the growing battle against illegal
marijuana indoor grow houses that have popped up in "epidemic
proportions," La Barge said.

"If we identify five or 10 houses tonight, we will pass it on to our
drug and vice bureau for further investigation," La Barge said.

As reported in the Toronto Sun last week, police have either busted,
or have identified, more than 1,000 indoor grow houses across the
Greater Toronto Area and believe there are thousands more they don't
know about.

Aerial infrared cameras can easily pick out indoor grow operations
because the heat they generate masses in the rooftops.

The Supreme Court of Canada decision overturned a lower court ruling
that the aerial infrared imaging was an intrusion of privacy rights.

La Barge assured that the infrared system on the Eurocopter EC120-B
poses no threat to anyone's privacy.

"It cannot take people taking baths or people at a kitchen table
having coffee ... Unless they are growing marijuana and ... losing
exhorbitant amounts of heat they have nothing to fear."

Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino said he was "gratified that common
sense has prevailed ...

"We have an epidemic of these grow houses."

Durham Regional Police spokesman Dave Selby said its use of helicopter
infra-red imaging "was never our first punch" in search-warrant
applications.

"It is a helpful tool, but it is not something we pry through your
walls and look at you with," he said.

At Queens Park, Ontario's Public Safety and Security Minister Monte
Kwinter also applauded the high court ruling "safety and security and
the suppression of crime are valid concerns."