Grow-Op Buster Offered To Landlords

[Jim Finnel]

A private security company under contract to the City of Chilliwack is offering landlords a service to detect marijuana grow-operations using a mobile heat-seeking device.

Brian Gladstone, CEO at Griffin Investigation & Securities Ltd., said the service, the first of its kind that he is aware of, will be offered throughout the Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland and Greater Vancouver.

He said the $14,000 mobile FLIR ( Forward Looking Infra Red camera ) is not as powerful as those that can detect human bodies, so privacy should not be an issue.

"We're not out there trying to see people in their homes or what they're up to," he said.

However, the unit can measure the "heat signature" of a rental property and detect the greater amount of heat required by a marijuana grow-operation.

The inspection would normally take place from the roadside, at night, without entering the property.

Gladstone said once a grow-op is indicated, the property owner can give the tenant two-weeks notice of a physical inspection of the rental unit.

A marijuana grower would then likely quickly dismantle the equipment.

"They're not going to want their grow-op found," he said.

Property owners who buy into the service will also be able to advise prospective tenants that FLIR inspections will take place on a monthly basis.

"The whole idea is to prevent ( grow-ops )," Gladstone said. "I hope we never find one."

The $75 fee for the monthly FLIR inspection is a small price to pay for the thousands of dollars in remedial work that landlords face when a rental property is used for a marijuana grow operation.

Gladstone, a retired police officer, said his company came up with the idea after doing some research and deciding it could be a money-maker for the company and at the same time help protect landlords from illegal marijuana growers.

"Landlords have no insurance to cover ( the cleanup )," he said, which recently cost one Mission landlord $18,000.

Griffin recently won a security contract with the City of Chilliwack, but operates in several other Lower Mainland municipalities with a staff of over 100 and nine security vehicles.

NewsHawk: Jim Behr: 420 MAGAZINE
Source: Chilliwack Progress (CN BC)
Copyright: 2011 The Chilliwack Progress
Contact: Contact
Website: Chilliwack Progress - Chilliwack Progress
Details: MapInc
Author: Robert Freeman

 

[Hogdady]

One wonders if they can detect the heat signature of a barrel mounted laser sight.....

 

[diggler35007]

One wonders if they can detect the heat signature of a barrel mounted laser sight.....

well said , big-dady .

 

[dudemaster]

What this article fails to mention is the Supreme Court has already ruled on the use of these Infrared Heat Detectors, they are illegal to use without a court order because they violate the privacy of the residence. The first resident to be harmed, in any way, by a landlord using one of these has both cause and precedence to reap financial compensation from the land lord and the land lord will then be vulnerable to federal arrest and incarceration for violating the rights of their tenants.

In other words, the first person to be kicked out will inherit the wealth of their landlord.

A private security company under contract to the City of Chilliwack is offering landlords a service to detect marijuana grow-operations using a mobile heat-seeking device.

 

[Be Irie]

What this article fails to mention is the Supreme Court has already ruled on the use of these Infrared Heat Detectors, they are illegal to use without a court order because they violate the privacy of the residence. The first resident to be harmed, in any way, by a landlord using one of these has both cause and precedence to reap financial compensation from the land lord and the land lord will then be vulnerable to federal arrest and incarceration for violating the rights of their tenants.

In other words, the first person to be kicked out will inherit the wealth of their landlord.

In 2001, the United States Supreme Court decided that performing FLIR surveillance of private property (ostensibly to detect high emission grow lights used in clandestine marijuana farming) without a search warrant by law enforcement violates the Fourth Amendment's protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27, 121 S.Ct. 2038, 150 L.Ed.2d 94 (2001).[3]

In R v. Tessling Canada's Supreme court determined that the use of FLIR surveillance by police was permitted without requiring a search warrant. The Court determined that the general nature of the data gathered by FLIR did not reveal personal information of the occupants and therefore was not in violation of Tessling's Section 8 rights afforded under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982).

They are talking about rental properties too.... Buy your own house and do what you want to it..........

 

[Jim Finnel]

In 2001, the United States Supreme Court decided that performing FLIR surveillance of private property (ostensibly to detect high emission grow lights used in clandestine marijuana farming) without a search warrant by law enforcement......

A landlord would not be law enforcement.