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Canadian Helicopter Police to Use Infrared House Surveillance
With the freedom to use infrared technology without first obtaining a warrant, York Regional Police helicopter officers expect to be busy in the near future.
"We plan on being a lot more pro-active," flight officer Mike Boris said.
"It's an excellent tool."
With 173 marijuana grow operations busted by York cops in 2003 and more than 100 raided so far this year, Chief Armand La Barge said the ability to use infrared technology without going to a judge first will help hundreds of investigations.
The infrared camera, a large round device that sits on the front of the helicopter and feeds images of heat sources to a screen inside the cockpit, has sat dormant since January 2003 when the Ontario Court of Appeal overturned the drug conviction of a Windsor man, forcing police across the country to obtain warrants before using the technology.
The court found infrared images constituted a search under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and police should have obtained a warrant prior to using it.
Since then, York Regional Police have only obtained a warrant for the use of infrared images a few times.
"If you could get a warrant to use (infrared), you could get a warrant to search the house. So, at that point, why bother?" said flight officer Yvon Roach.
Last week, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned the decision opening the door to a more liberal use of the technology. It's a door York Regional Police are happy to be walking through.
"We're definitely going to use it a lot more now," added flight officer Boris.
"We're very pleased."
However, in using the technology, police may be trampling all over the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, one York Region legal expert said.
"I see it as an invasion of privacy," Aurora criminal lawyer Barry Switzer said.
"The police and the courts may say I'm comparing apples to oranges here, but it seems like there is a video camera on you at all times these days, every phone call you make, there some disclaimer that comes on telling you this call may be monitored. It's Big Brother turned on its head."
While they can detect high sources of heat, infrared cameras cannot determine the exact nature of the source.
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BY THE NUMBERS
173 Marijuana grow operations busted by York cops in 2003.
100 Grow operations raided this year.
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