Spy On Your Neighbors; Tell the Truth to The Police – Prohibitionist Community Building Techniques
(Ed. note: After the fall of Communism, it was
found that almost one third of the people in East Germany had become Stasi informants.
Everyone is a suspected marijuana grower,so we have to keep an eye on everyone. Absolutely
everyone. Mind you, this is in Canada, not DEAland.) March 15, 1998 Calgary Herald
By Sasha Naghy
BUMPER POT CROPS KEEP ‘GREEN TEAM’ BUSY
The property room of the Calgary Police Service is filled with the overwhelming smell of marijuana.
Three large garbage bags sit on a table overflowing with the proceeds of a home grown industry that is sprouting across Calgary.
The odor is a sign that in the war against drugs, Calgary police have scored a hit.
Drug detectives know, however that there’s always another harvest coming from Calgary’s underground marijuana economy.The recent discovery of marijuana, with a street value of more than $560,000, at a Whitehorn area home in the northeast illustrates the difficulty police have in tracking drug growing operations.
They exist in neighbourhoods like yours and mine. It could be happening next door, or down the street. Think your community is immune to the problem? Think again.
"They are all over the place, that’s the reality", says Staff Sgt. Mike Cullen of the police drug unit. "Rentals. Owners. It doesn’t matter."
Police rely on tips from the public to help expose marijuana growing operations, says Det. Jeff Plimmer.
Ninety percent of drug busts come from tips. Some are turncoats, people who know there are drugs on the inside. But more often it is neighbors who feel something illegal is going on.
Plimmer says there are some sure signs that you may be living next to a marijuana merchant. He advises:
| Look for the electricity meter in the back to be altered, which is a sign that the grower is bypassing electricity to power the operation; |
| Look for heavy condensation on windows; |
| Look for basement windows to be covered up at all times; |
| Look to see if the home doesn’t look lived in, yet there’s no end of visitors. |
"You just never know what your neighbours are doing", says Primmer.
A house owner should be extra vigilant to avoid renting to potential marijuana growers, adds Cullen.
"Aside from the damage they do, drilling through the basement to bypass the meter, they cause tremendous structural damage to the home from the constant heavy humidity used to grow the plants."
The drug units goal is to make a large dent in the marijuana trade in Calgary by seizing $10 million worth of the illegal drug this year. But street hardened cops suggest that even $10 million is probably a drop in the bucket. (Ed. note: "Street hardened?" How does raiding an indoor garden or guessing at the size of a contraband marekt make a cop "street hardened?" What about cliché hardened journalism?)
Recent federal Proceeds of Crime legislation has provided police with a new tool in the fight. The new law allows police to seize - and the courts to order forfeit upon conviction-money and other gains from criminal enterprises.
The money recovered from the homes goes to the province, and is destined for crime prevention, not enforcement.
It’s a sore point among members of the marijuana police-that they don’t have more bodies to shut down the growers.
"We need two-to-three times the manpower to handle the number of complaints we get now, let alone generate our own leads," says Primmer.
The Green Team is made of two Calgary Police officers and two Mounties. The team receives more than 400 tips a year.
If you have a concern about a home in your neighbourhood
, call Calgary police at 266-1234, or the drug unit at 268-8388 or through Crimestoppers at 262-8477.