F.L.I.R. in states that have legalized medical marijuana

Discussion in 'Growing Marijuana Indoors' started by Mr.Denton, Dec 8, 2008.

  1. I was wondering, would authorities in states that have legalized medical marijuana use F.L.I.R. to bust illegal grow ops? I would think, in places like California, the local authorities wouldn't think an IR signature would indicate an illegal grow op since patients can legally grow their own medicine under state law and so it might be a legal grow op. Otherwise there would be many many false busts on patients. Also, I highly doubt that helicopter based F.L.I.R. is effective in catching small to medium grow ops considering the immense number of heat sources to investigate in an average city block.

    Light up and discuss.:smoke:
     
  2. They need a warrant to use FLIR, so if they use it on someone it means they already have an informant or other reason to believe a person is growing.
     
  3. and thats that
     
  4. absolutely not

    i mean yeah technically your right

    but that dosn't mean they DONT use it.

    ever hear of www.kopbusters.com ?

    The guy was growing Christmas trees (legit Christmas trees) and made it really obvious like blocking out the windows and using 1000w hps's and the cops busted in with no warrant etc, etc, the cops even said "so we've been setup?"

    crazy shit just cuz its illegal doesn't mean cops don't do it. If they REALLY REALLY REALLY think ur growing (and your name and address doesn't show up in the registry of legal patients), they WILL bullshit affidavits (saying witnesses saw u bring mad equipment in, or smelled something) and get a warrant and bust down your door.

    assuming you catch their attention in the first place.
     
  5. ^^

    and with a lawyer

    their case would hold as much water as a cheese grater
     
  6. it costs about $200 an hour to fly a cop chopper. why waste a lot of money on trying to bust growers? you wouldnt have to worry
     
  7. again, not if they falsified their own (the cops) personal affadavits of first hand witnessing, smelling etc which led them to request and get a warrant that WILL stand in court, and when the ends justify the means, the system will overlook some parts.
     

  8. The Supreme Court already ruled that warrantless FLIR is worthless in court.

    Also, making it obvious that you're growing something in order to get the cops attention is plain stupid, whether you're growing or not. My point was that if you're doing NOTHING to attract attention other than having a heat signature then you have nothing to worry about from FLIR.
     
  9. I agree with oldskoolgrower, yet disagree to some extent.

    IMHO if your heat signiature COULD be a grow, unless they have further suspicion they will probably not pursue it. However, if the cops see your house lit up like the rockeffeller center christmas tree, (or strongly matches the heats signiature for a grow operation), then they make take steps to obtain a search warrant (either legally or illegally) if they strongly feel your growing in there, but have no further evidence to support it.
     
  10. They plain are not allowed to do so. After the Supreme Court ruling if they cannot show they had probably cause prior to the FLIR readings, everything else becomes inadmissable, or 'fruit of a tainted tree' as lawyers call it.
     
  11. again, you are 100% correct. they are not alllowed to do it. however, lets say they are using FLIR for *whatever* reason and are CONVINCED that you have a grow op going on. They will falsify an affadavit that says that on patrol, they saw you entering your house late at night with boxes, and they smell marijuana coming from the dryer vents (total lies) they will then get a warrant based on their own "professional observations" which are completely subjective yet hold to a certain degree, especially when they bust your door down with a legal (but unjustly gained) search warrant and find a whole op going on.
     
  12. I though cops werent allowed to use FLIR's in the U.S anymore??
     
  13. Howdy from good ol' Cali!! Most of the copters we have around here (North) have FLIR, but it isn't worth a damn. Its primary use is to locate people via heat signature, but again is not very effective. I dont know of any cities that have the money to just fly around looking for indoor grows. Your chances of getting caught by a FLIR unit are less than getting struck by lightning. Besides, there is always other crap going on that more pressing for the cops. Even an average indoor grow isn't much to get hot and bothered about, the real target they seem to be after is white dope. At least in our neck of the woods anyways. Relax!
     
  14. They didn't make it obvious. That's why Kopbusters.com started getting media attention for that stunt. They took steps to make it as secretive as possible, but even then cops came in warrantlessly. Even tho there was nothing illegal going on there, no smells of marijuana they could of used as probably cause, and no informants. Take a look at that link posted up above and watch the video. It is pretty interesting, if true.
     
  15. There's a hole in that Kopbusters timeline.

    1. set up house
    2. wait for cops
    3. laugh at cops who raided fake house.

    Somehow they tipped off the cops. No police dept is just flying helicopters around for fun using FLIR then back tracking with fake affadavits and warrants. They may get a tip or a snitch and THEN illegally use flir etc etc.

    If you're not running thousands of watts, you're more than safe from FLIR.
     
  16. Hmm, that makes sense. Otherwise its a coincidence that they got busted the day right after setting everything up. I'm thinking as long as you keep your mouth shut, you're fine.
     


  17. Yep, they did it to get attention. It was a complete setup and it's hardly a valid test or example of anything. That's why I disregard it.

    First rule of grow club is don't talk about grow club. Tell nobody, not even your best friends. If nobody knows and you're growing on a small scale on your own property then you will not get caught.

    EDIT: And if they get a tip or snitch and it's credible the FLIR search may not be illegal because they may be able to get a warrant.
     
  18. Classic LOL
     
  19. anyone who has delt personally with law enforcement knows that they don't follow laws, they do what they want quite often in the real world believe it or not, it happens.

    You then get to fight it out in court with a judge who is on whose side again? Thank you.
     

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