WHAT ABOUT MISSED WORK?

Editor, The News:

Re: Police use 911 ruse, too (Letters, May 30).

It's both disturbing and somehow comforting to see the number of
letters you get from others who were visited recently by the pot
squad, scavenging around Pitt Meadows for marijuana grow operations.

Disturbing for all the usual reasons, comforting to know that our home
was far from the only one.

Like Richard and Shirley Pitt, I too have more than the usual number
of computers in my home.

I'm a long-time computer geek, so I've built up a fair armoury of
running systems. And, yeah, they draw a lot of power, which we pay
for.

I also work for a CCTV (surveillance cameras) security-systems company
based in Maple Ridge, and like a lot of people, sometimes bring my
work home, which leads to more computers and a few video cameras
around the place.

The police officers who did the sweep of our house that Wednesday
morning two weeks ago seemed to figure out right away what was causing
all the extra power usage, and they seemed genuinely pleased to have
not found a grow op.

The bevy of inspectors, on the other hand, seemed downright
disappointed, and the city bylaw officer almost refused to believe
that there was nothing untoward -- she repeatedly pointed out the
spikes in usage in January and February (uh, yeah, they were the
coldest in recent memory, and this place is all electric heat? You do
the math), and tried to steer me several times into admitting that I
was running a business out of my home (as she pointed out, she was
also responsible for handing out business licenses).

As for assertions that the inspectors have done their homework: I
looked up our usage on B.C. Hydro's website and noticed that it really
hasn't changed significantly in the past three years, including the
winter spikes, which were higher this year, again, only because of the
colder weather.

If they noticed the cameras beforehand, did they also notice the
"premises are under video surveillance" stickers on my doors?

And I wonder if they also checked the records of the Ridge-Meadows
RCMP and noted the regular calls my wife makes to them about
suspicious vehicles at the end of our cul-de-sac?

Ironic that they would then be investigating our home.

In the wake of it all, however, I have a slightly more practical
concern: who's going to reimburse me and my employer for the half day
of work I missed sitting around home waiting for these clowns?

MATT ION

Maple Ridge