Ok so last night I had the cops called on me for personal reasons and I'm in the middle of building my growbox so it was in my livingroom and needless to say the cops right away assumed I would be growing pot in it and all I said was no I'm gonna grow some vegetables. But anyway they said they were going to flag my house with narcotics and periodically fly over with an infrared and see what's going on. I'm wondering since I would be using a 200 watt cfl if they would be able to even tell if it was on since I'm the bottom of my apartment building and it wouldn't be creating very much heat at all. Thanks to anyone who can answer this for me.
Infrared cameras?
- Thread starter Dookay
- Start date
420God
Well-Known Member
If you're just going to grow basic vegges than I wouldn't worry but since the officers themselves seen a grow box they now have probable cause for a search in the future.
welshsmoker
Well-Known Member
would be funny though,
tip top toker
Well-Known Member
It means nothing. They asked if it was for growing pot, you said no, for growing veg. Veg will still need a light to grow, and there is no logical reason why you would not use a 250w hps for growing veg. They have been told that you are going to grow something so you will be giving out a heat signature regardless what is actually inside it (heat signature naturally depending on what you grow with). If they run a copter over your house and they see a heat spot, they already have information that there would be vegetables grown, so they need even more proof that it is cannabis to get a warrant. Electricity bills, soil, all of that lot can now be atributed to growing tomatoes, not cannabis, they gotta really work to find proof.
I am not sure as to their integrity, but personally if a cop was talking to me i would be recording it for future proof, for eample they may say you never said anything about vegetables.
As it is though, a hot spot on the roof or a hot wall means nothing to judge either, it can be caused by 1001 legal appliances for legal reasons, as can be seen y some attempted raids, where they have seen a "heat signature" been unable to obtain a warrant and tried to talk their way in so they could then say "hey, i smell something" etc. The police can rarely obtain a warrant for a heat signature alone. Too many innocent reasons.
I am not sure as to their integrity, but personally if a cop was talking to me i would be recording it for future proof, for eample they may say you never said anything about vegetables.
As it is though, a hot spot on the roof or a hot wall means nothing to judge either, it can be caused by 1001 legal appliances for legal reasons, as can be seen y some attempted raids, where they have seen a "heat signature" been unable to obtain a warrant and tried to talk their way in so they could then say "hey, i smell something" etc. The police can rarely obtain a warrant for a heat signature alone. Too many innocent reasons.
DocGreenThumb
Well-Known Member
I definitely wouldn't grow after that. I wouldn't grow bud in an apartment anyway to many security concerns. No an infra-red scan wouldn't detect a CFL grow light. Be careful my friend. Not illegal to grow veggies 
hadatrn2growin
Member
You taking a dump would leave a higher heat signature than your cfl. An IR camera doesn't give the po-po's superman-like x-ray vision. Infact, Infrared cameras see in the night using an I.R., Thermal Imagery sees heat (in 1 degree incraments). Thermal Imagery will not see through walls either. How it is used to bust growers is when its used in conjunction with other investigative techniques, as a poster has stated- electricity bills (including the info from the power company that your useage seems to spike, usually for 12-18 hours at the same time daily...), all your old soil balls, smell, informants and whatever other info they got on you. Police also LOVE to tell you mis-information.... "we're gonna let narcotics know about you", (or my favourite that was told to the neighbours of some growing friends "there's gonna be 400 grow-ops busted this spring.... ". Really. 400 busts? well, THAT will really bog down the court system here for the next 10 years YA RIGHT. I have been narc'd out by an ex-friend.... never got a visit. A friend who's grow WAS busted, only got his babies killed, wires cut, and bulbs smashed... no promise to appear or anything. A cop seeing your grow unit and saying its for dope, is tantamount to him coming in to your home, seeing a rifle on the wall and saying "I'm sorry sir, I'm gonna have to book you on suspicion of murder, on account of that rifle up there on the wall...
Grow your veggies, and/or your dope. For fuck sakes people, Cops are only PEOPLE IN UNIFORM! They have no special rights or magical powers.
Grow your veggies, and/or your dope. For fuck sakes people, Cops are only PEOPLE IN UNIFORM! They have no special rights or magical powers.
electricity bills aren't enough for a warrant b/c electricity may spike b/c of other reasons. but since the cops saw your grow box, it may be a contributing factor to get a knock and talk or something like that soon.... they'll knock, when you open they'll say they smell weed and walk inside..... if they come knocking, don't open the door, slip them a note under the door or talk through it....... for a warrant they'll need to prove your growing weed, not getting electricity spikes.....
..a friend of mine runs a gaming server out of his house, 3 older PC's that each pull around 400 watts of power....
and he runs it for 12-20 hours at a time. his electricity spikes and it's not b/c he's growing weed.....
Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
If they come and only find vegetables, after you stated that was your intended use, and find nothing else...If you play it right, you could be getting some lawsuit money out of them. Damages, mental stress, PTSD from getting wrongly raided...I would not go out of your way to make it happen and catch LEO, but something to think about if it happens.
420God
Well-Known Member
Did you here about the raid in Utah? I wouldn't fuck around with the cops over some weed.
Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
No, or if I did I don't remember it. After reading about so many raids they start to get mixed up in my head. Can you point me to it? I am in no way implying it didn't happen but just want to read or re-read it. Thanks
420God
Well-Known Member
Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
Thanks! I remember that know. Before I retired out of the military I was an MP and then higher up military law enforcement. Military Police are aggressive by nature but to me that was totally a bad operation. You don't shoot someone holding a non projectile weapon, you stay out of reach and hose him down with chemical spray or send in the dog. That was not a raid, that was an execution.
But of course we trained that there are innocent civilians in every house, even over seas...I guess that is not tought to civilian authorities. A lot of them would be going to Leavenworth prison if they were military.
Assuming you are in the USA, you have nothing to worry about. FLIR technology (Infrared) cannot be used on US citizens unless the police have a warrant allowing it. A 200 Watt CFL grow won't show up any more than your big tv and would put out 1/5 the signature a toaster making toast would, and about half the heat output of your refrigerator. No Worries, grow grow grow
there is NO PROBABLE CAUSE, a box is not illegal in any way shape or form, no judge would be idiotic enough to even entertain the idea of signing a warrant like that. Its not even reasonable suspicion. You haven't done anything wrong and you aren't planning on it either, if they bust down your door file a civil suit and sue the fuck out of them.
Dirty Harry
Well-Known Member
Your right about the heat signature. A 2500 watt space heater isn't detected, even in houses that has one in multiple rooms. If they did, the winter months would be very busy for them.
I would not put a lot of stock in the needing a warrant though. We all know cops break the rules all the time. It only takes one pot hating judge to decide he will put the case on his bench. There are judges who say Obama care is unconstitutional while there are judges who say it is. Just like some say the 2nd amendment doesn't give people gun rights while others say it does.
The best place to be, is undetected and not having to fight in the first place. Yes, we are in the land of the free, but slowly over time it has become less free...slow enough that we didn't notice.
highasfvck
Well-Known Member
Man that is some bullshit.... The officer that shot the man should be charged with murder in my opinion. Its completely unnecessary to shoot someone with a GOLF CLUB... and like the article said, he may have not even known they were police, he probably thought he was getting robbed.