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xatalantaxhow did they get a warrant for _this_ shocking abuse of power?
Family's High Utility Bill Prompts Drug Raid
No Drugs Found; Family Wants Apology
POSTED: 1:34 pm PST March 25, 2004
UPDATED: 1:37 pm PST March 25, 2004
CARLSBAD, Calif. -- A North County family asked police for a written apology after officers raided their home in search of drugs because of a high electric bill.
Dina Dagy said her three children, four ceiling fans, three computers, two to three daily loads of laundry and one to two daily dishwasher cycles elevated the family's power bill. Unusually high energy bills can be a sign that residents are growing marijuana indoors with powerful lamps that gobble electricity, police said. Carlsbad Detective Sgt. Matt Magro said the Dagys used three times as much electricity in February compared to four other nearby homes. All the homes were selected at random, Magro said.
Detectives did not find any contraband in the Dagy home. Magro said he apologized to Dagy several times during the search, and he will gladly apologize again. The Dagy home was one of 25 raided Friday by local and federal drug agents. Twenty of those searches yielded marijuana, and 24 people were arrested. Officials said that 3,119 plants were being cultivated in the homes. They confiscated tens of thousands of dollars in alleged drug profits.
Family's High Utility Bill Prompts Drug Raid
No Drugs Found; Family Wants Apology
POSTED: 1:34 pm PST March 25, 2004
UPDATED: 1:37 pm PST March 25, 2004
CARLSBAD, Calif. -- A North County family asked police for a written apology after officers raided their home in search of drugs because of a high electric bill.
Dina Dagy said her three children, four ceiling fans, three computers, two to three daily loads of laundry and one to two daily dishwasher cycles elevated the family's power bill. Unusually high energy bills can be a sign that residents are growing marijuana indoors with powerful lamps that gobble electricity, police said. Carlsbad Detective Sgt. Matt Magro said the Dagys used three times as much electricity in February compared to four other nearby homes. All the homes were selected at random, Magro said.
Detectives did not find any contraband in the Dagy home. Magro said he apologized to Dagy several times during the search, and he will gladly apologize again. The Dagy home was one of 25 raided Friday by local and federal drug agents. Twenty of those searches yielded marijuana, and 24 people were arrested. Officials said that 3,119 plants were being cultivated in the homes. They confiscated tens of thousands of dollars in alleged drug profits.
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no subject
Date: 2004-03-25 07:23 pm (UTC)I don't know which is scarier
Date: 2004-03-25 08:12 pm (UTC)but with 20 out of 25 homes raided ending in successful raids!?
the success rate will now set precedent for using that criteria for future probable-cause "search and sezure" ops.
does this mean the 4/5ths of citizens are not only illegal drug users, but actual supppliers and dealers? what does this say for other crime statistics? are 4/5ths of the population willing to break any law if there seems to be little chance of capture and plenty of potential profit?
if people would just behave themselves, then the control freaks wouldn't have any grounds for power grabs...
Re: I don't know which is scarier
Date: 2004-03-25 08:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-25 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-25 08:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-03-25 09:47 pm (UTC)2. Amazingly efficient criterion, if you believe 20/25 and ~1 arrest/raid.
Too bad it's for pot, which is relatively harmless. Get good at catching the real bad people, m'kay?