Comments on: 400 Plants, $40K Cash And More – November 10, 2010

By: Dirt McGirt

Dirt McGirt — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 22:54:18 +0000

Bet you wish Prop 19 had passed now, hm?

By: kevpod

kevpod — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 06:26:53 +0000

We only publish addresses and property owners’ names when a criminal allegation is made by APD after they’ve cleaned out the drugs. We don’t have any special powers or rights; it’s all public information that anyone could find out.

What we have never done is publish addresses of legal 215 grows or rumored grow houses. That would expose the innocent residents to possible victimization.

By: Doug Brunell

Doug Brunell — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 06:19:27 +0000

I’d be less worried about the police kicking in the door than I would, say, armed gunmen coming in for the weekly home invasion. Of course, printing the address of a legal grow can act as a road map to the less savory elements out there. The Eye is well within its rights to print the address (it is public record once the police get involved I believe), but if it were my address being printed, I’d be moving out. Well, that and the lack of electricity.

By: Mark Sailors

Mark Sailors — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 04:05:08 +0000

If the grow had been illegal they would have seized the medicine, and made arrests. The California Supreme Court ruled that it is unlawful, and unconstitutional to limit the amount of medicine a person may posses or grow. The garden was not in compliance with the building codes and had unsafe electrical modifications, therefor they rightly terminated service until the electricity was brought up to code.

I agree 100% that Arcata is lucky to have the PD we have. The put up with things no other force in the country would tolerate.

By: Paul Hooker

Paul Hooker — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 03:24:33 +0000

When my neighbor’s house was raided a year ago the APD officers were super polite. They knocked on the door and waited for the occupant to answer the door. It was an illegal grow, yet the officers were as polite as could be. They never even took his pot, I mean medicine. They never arrested him, but they did have his electrical service cut because of the dangerous condition. He had eight 1,000 watt lights. We are lucky to have the police we have.

By: Tom Chapman

Tom Chapman — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 19:09:00 +0000

Kevin,

The law allows the police to force entry during the service of a warrant or during “fresh pursuit” providing the police comply with knock and notice: (is that the appropriate use of a colon?) Meaning, the police must announce their presence and state the reason why they are there. There is a little more to it, but that is the gist. The owner is responsible for the repair of the damaged property assuming the police were acting within the parameters of the law. In the event the police were not, they would be responsible for the damage.

By: Mark Sailors

Mark Sailors — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 14:58:59 +0000

Tom,
That’s a great thing to hear. Now if we could figure out a way to keep your officers from being in a position where they need to apologize, we would be in a much better position. As it stands law abiding citizens are AFRAID to interact with the local police for fear of having their LEGAL 215 grows targeted for “forced entry” by the police. As you know I believe Arcata PD is one of the top PD’s in the nation, but the raiding of legitimate patients gives everyone involved a “black eye”.

I am not afraid to admit when I make mistakes and I respect a police force that can do the same.

By: kevpod

kevpod — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 04:28:37 +0000

Chief, that does raise a question, though. What happens after police do commit forced entry creating damage to the property, both on entry to a home in which alleged criminal activity is detected and a home where it turns out there is none?

I don’t know whether the latter case has ever occurred, but is there a standard practice for that? Does the City pay for repair costs?

By: Tom Chapman

Tom Chapman — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 02:08:32 +0000

You are mistaken Mark. That is exactly what we did.

By: Mark Sailors

Mark Sailors — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 16:27:43 +0000

The police never just knock and politly ask to come in. It is almost always a battering ram through the door. When the police search a house, things get broken. I would assume this was no diffrent. If Iam mistaken then I APOLOGIZE.