Cops Review Drug Raid Prompted By Power Bill

nbcsandiego.com ^ | 3 31 04 | nbcsandiego.com

[freepatriot32]

CARLSBAD, Calif. -- Police will conduct an internal investigation into a raid at a home that was searched for marijuana because of a high electricity bill. No drugs were found.

Police Chief Thomas Zoll said Tuesday the department will review procedures that led to the March 19 to ensure similar incidents don't occur again.

Officers raided the home of Dina Dagy and her family because records indicated the family used three times more electricity than their neighbors.

Dagy attributed her high power bill to her three children, four ceiling fans, three computers, two to three daily loads of laundry and one to two daily dishwasher cycles.

High electricity bills often indicate that residents are using lamps to grow marijuana indoors, police said. The Dagy house was also targeted because a drug-sniffing dog responded to the home and the family put its trash out later than neighbors, which can indicate suspicious activity, police said.

Police raided 24 other homes the same day. They found marijuana in 20 homes and arrested 24 people.

The internal investigation is expected to take one to two weeks

[freepatriot32]

Police will conduct an internal investigation into a raid at a home

Oh I'm sure the investigation will show tha tthe constitution was violated by the cops and since the cheif and da took an oath to uphold and defend it they will not only fire the police but also charge them criminally. Then i willbuy and umbrella to protect myself from all the flying pigs poop falling from the sky

[Texan5]

"the family put its trash out later than neighbors, which can indicate suspicious activity, police said."

Yep, that's suspicious, all right-I'm sure my neighbor down the road puts his trash out later in the morning than the rest of us because he is involved in criminal activity, and not because he works third shift and takes it out when he gets home from work. That is not a place I'd care to live, thanks...

[freepatriot32]

ping

[Bob Mc]

"Police raided 24 other homes the same day. They found marijuana in 20 homes and arrested 24 people."

Hey, they found 20 criminals out of 24 homes busted down! An 83% success rate! Those innocent homeowners just need to suck it up and be thankful they didn't panic or something and assume bad guys were busting in, pull out a gun to defend their home, and all get shot dead by the cops.

As Bill Clinton would say, "better put some ice on that". <sarcasm off

[glock rocks]

the family put its trash out later than neighbors, which can indicate suspicious activity, police said.

that's one I haven't heard. Perhaps these citizens didn't realize they'd upset the delicate sensitivities of the uniformed dumpster divers... they'd better shape up, because they're upsetting the lawmen's expectation of readily accessible evidence once the cans hit the curb!

[ActionNewsBill]

Bookmark Bump

[freepatriot32]

they'd better shape up, because they're upsetting the lawmen's expectation of readily accessible evidence

"YOU WILL RESPECT MY AUTHORITY!"

[searchandrecovery]

Er, utility bills are open to police inspection? Do they routinely ask the electric/water/phone companies to report suspicious activity, or do they go through the bills themselves? Sounds illegal to me either way.

[CholeraJoe]

An 83% success rate!

I'd take those odds to Vegas.

[The Louiswu]

So the home owners of the four homes the police raided and found no drugs in are just supposed to suck it up, and forget about their rights concerning illegal searches, heck why don't we just toss out the constitution right now and be done with it?!

We don't need no steeking constitution

[The Louiswu]

So the home owners of the four homes the police raided and found no drugs in are just supposed to suck it up, and forget about their rights concerning illegal searches, heck why don't we just toss out the constitution right now and be done with it?!

We don't need no steeking constitution

[cinFLA]

steeking

typo?

[bc2]

Welcome to the Socialist Republic of Amerika.

There is no Constitution here...

[af_vet_rr]

Er, utility bills are open to police inspection? Do they routinely ask the electric/water/phone companies to report suspicious activity, or do they go through the bills themselves? Sounds illegal to me either way.

War on Drugs , didn't you hear?

I wouldn't be surprised if this kind of information ended up in the MATRIX database that a bunch of states put together to keep tabs on the subjects, err citizens. It's supposed to keep track of things like travel, relatives, neighbors, etc., and various billing (electricity, credit card, etc.) wouldn't surprise me.

You gotta remember, Maryland is playing fast and loose with gun records, purchases, etc., and this is in the same vein.

[coloradan]

Will the police fire the dog that falsely alerted? Or will they keep the dog and use it to raid additional innocent citizens?

[TKDietz]

I'd like to know exactly what was found in these homes. A couple of loose joints or giant marijuana patches?

[Sweet Land]

Will the police fire the dog that falsely alerted? Or will they keep the dog and use it to raid additional innocent citizens?

They'll give it a raise and breed it when it retires.

[razorback-bert]

My question too.

Were those home in the same neighborhood or could there possibly racial profiling.

[CSM]

I thought the same thing. They keep talking about high utility bills indicating growing operations, then they very generally say they found MJ.......Seems to be a disconnect somewhere. How many of the 20 homes were actually growing MJ?

[freepatriot32]

Will the police fire the dog that falsely alerted?