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The420Guy
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An "overwhelmed" Surrey RCMP is considering recalling retired police
officers and former soldiers to help raid indoor marijuana grow ops, a
senior Mountie said Thursday.
Staff Sgt. Ross Fisher revealed the idea was under consideration during a
Fraser Heights community forum on grow ops.
"It's a creative solution to a staggering problem." Fisher commented.
The plan, Fisher said, would see former cops sworn in as special constables
with the same powers as full-time police, so they could assist drug squad
members when they raid suspected marijuana grow operations.
Hiring retired officers to carry out field work would be a first for the
Surrey RCMP, which does employ some retirees, but only in office functions
such as manning the front desk of police headquarters.
Fisher said another proposal under consideration would create an "overtime
bank" where full-time Surrey RCMP officers could make extra money during
their days off by signing up to assist with drug squad raids.
Right now, the drug squad is so backed up, it takes an average of four
months from a grow op complaint being received until police investigate, if
they can can get to it at all.
"Some we won't get to," Fisher said. "We (have to) prioritize. I'm sorry.
Let's just say it's a target-rich environment."
Fisher estimated there are probably somewhere between 50 and 100 indoor
grow ops operating in the upscale Fraser Heights area of North Surrey,
where some streets report as many as six suspected grow ops in a single block.
"We've been overwhelmed," Fisher said, referring to estimates that place
the total number of grow ops in Surrey as high as 4,000, many of them in
newer neighbourhoods like Fraser Heights.
"It (pot) is the largest industry in Surrey," Fisher observed.
The Staff Sgt. stressed the proposals are only at the discussion phase and
have yet to be formally presented to Surrey council.
About 240 people attended Thursday's town hall meeting at Fraser Heights
Secondary School to discuss the problem of indoor marijuana grow ops.
Surrey-North MP Chuck Cadman, Surrey-Tynehead MLA Dave Hayer, Couns. Dianne
Watts and Gary Tymoschuk, as well as representatives from the Fraser Valley
Real Estate Board and BC Hydro also fielded questions at the evening meeting.
All of the speakers agreed that tougher penalties are needed to help quell
the growth in grow ops, with Cadman and Hayer urging the audience to write
the federal government and demand tougher penalties.
One-quarter of all drug convictions results in sentences of house arrest,
Cadman complained.
Watts said the city needs to hire more full-time officers and to build a
community policing station in Fraser Heights.
Fisher, a long-time Surrey resident, said he knows exactly how residents of
Fraser Heights feel about sharing their neighbourhoods with pot grow
operations.
"I've got one six houses from (my home)," the veteran officer told the crowd.
"It's kind of funny, It's got bars on all the windows... and I've got to
know the (Rottweiler) in the back very well. I feel insulted every time I
walk past the house."
Source: Surrey Leader (CN BC)
Pubdate: June 29, 2003
Contact newsroom@surreyleader.com
Website: Home - Surrey Now-Leader
Copyright: 2003 Surrey Leader
Author: Dan Ferguson
officers and former soldiers to help raid indoor marijuana grow ops, a
senior Mountie said Thursday.
Staff Sgt. Ross Fisher revealed the idea was under consideration during a
Fraser Heights community forum on grow ops.
"It's a creative solution to a staggering problem." Fisher commented.
The plan, Fisher said, would see former cops sworn in as special constables
with the same powers as full-time police, so they could assist drug squad
members when they raid suspected marijuana grow operations.
Hiring retired officers to carry out field work would be a first for the
Surrey RCMP, which does employ some retirees, but only in office functions
such as manning the front desk of police headquarters.
Fisher said another proposal under consideration would create an "overtime
bank" where full-time Surrey RCMP officers could make extra money during
their days off by signing up to assist with drug squad raids.
Right now, the drug squad is so backed up, it takes an average of four
months from a grow op complaint being received until police investigate, if
they can can get to it at all.
"Some we won't get to," Fisher said. "We (have to) prioritize. I'm sorry.
Let's just say it's a target-rich environment."
Fisher estimated there are probably somewhere between 50 and 100 indoor
grow ops operating in the upscale Fraser Heights area of North Surrey,
where some streets report as many as six suspected grow ops in a single block.
"We've been overwhelmed," Fisher said, referring to estimates that place
the total number of grow ops in Surrey as high as 4,000, many of them in
newer neighbourhoods like Fraser Heights.
"It (pot) is the largest industry in Surrey," Fisher observed.
The Staff Sgt. stressed the proposals are only at the discussion phase and
have yet to be formally presented to Surrey council.
About 240 people attended Thursday's town hall meeting at Fraser Heights
Secondary School to discuss the problem of indoor marijuana grow ops.
Surrey-North MP Chuck Cadman, Surrey-Tynehead MLA Dave Hayer, Couns. Dianne
Watts and Gary Tymoschuk, as well as representatives from the Fraser Valley
Real Estate Board and BC Hydro also fielded questions at the evening meeting.
All of the speakers agreed that tougher penalties are needed to help quell
the growth in grow ops, with Cadman and Hayer urging the audience to write
the federal government and demand tougher penalties.
One-quarter of all drug convictions results in sentences of house arrest,
Cadman complained.
Watts said the city needs to hire more full-time officers and to build a
community policing station in Fraser Heights.
Fisher, a long-time Surrey resident, said he knows exactly how residents of
Fraser Heights feel about sharing their neighbourhoods with pot grow
operations.
"I've got one six houses from (my home)," the veteran officer told the crowd.
"It's kind of funny, It's got bars on all the windows... and I've got to
know the (Rottweiler) in the back very well. I feel insulted every time I
walk past the house."
Source: Surrey Leader (CN BC)
Pubdate: June 29, 2003
Contact newsroom@surreyleader.com
Website: Home - Surrey Now-Leader
Copyright: 2003 Surrey Leader
Author: Dan Ferguson
