Private security firms plan on using FLIR to scare renters.

A tool for Chilliwack landlords to battle marijuana grow-ops​

By Tyler Olsen, Chilliwack Times July 18, 2011



A local security company is offering a new weapon in the ongoing battle between marijuana grow operators and Chilliwack landlords.

Griffin Investigation & Security Services says it has acquired a new infrared camera can both detect grow ops and prevent them from taking over, and destroying homes, in the first place.

Griffin's chairman and chief executive officer Brain Goldstone said landlords can hire his company to perform monthly heat checks of their homes. The camera takes an image of a structure's "heat signature." Grow operations typically require vast amounts of heat and energy and, Goldstone says, are easy to spot using the camera.

"The house will actually glow," said Goldstone, a former RCMP officer.

The camera itself is not enough to prove the existence of a grow operation. For that, an inspection is required. Once an anomalous heat pattern is detected, Goldstone says his company will alert the homeowner, who can either do an inspection him or herself, or hire Griffin to complete that task. Landlords must give tenants notice before an inspection and Goldstone believes that such notice should drive off any grow operators who may have set up shop. But that, he said, is a victory.

He said the camera can also serve as a deterrent. Clients will be given letters—which they can in turn hand potential renters—stating that homes will be subject to monthly heat inspections.

"If you're planning on renting this property to put a grow op in it and you know someone's going to be coming by this property, you'll go somewhere else," he said.

As for privacy concerns, Goldstone said the camera—which mounts on top of a vehicle and costs $14,000—is not powerful enough to see into homes.

"It won't penetrate glass or look through windows, and we don't want it to," he said. The scans, which can often be done from the road, only register heat given off by the walls of the home, said Goldstone.

Hiring Griffin doesn't come without a cost—about $900 per year per home—but Goldstone believes there will be sufficient demand from landlords worried about the cost of cleaning up after grow operations and paying the accompanying fines.

The camera won't only be used to try and detect grow operations. Griffin is contracted to provide security for the City of Chilliwack and he said the company used it Thursday night to scan local parks after dark for trespassers. It also will be available, he said, for search and rescue operations in instances where a mobile unit is required.

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resinryder said:

Fucker will probably get a tv show on top of it too.

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EasyBakeIndica said:

...did anyone else read 'Snow Crash', by Neil Stephenson???

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SOTF420 said:

Nothing that some LED lights can't overcome

I have used FLIR on my spot a few times, nothing shows up.

Decent temps closely matching the rest of the house or apt with no built up infrared heat from the HPS (that would be making the room glow because it's absorbed into the surrounding structure) means these guys can basically go fuck off

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SOTF420 said:

Nothing that some LED lights can't overcome

I have used FLIR on my spot a few times, nothing shows up.

Decent temps closely matching the rest of the house or apt with no built up infrared heat from the HPS (that would be making the room glow because it's absorbed into the surrounding structure) means these guys can basically go fuck off

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Maj.Cottonmouth said:

WTF? "Grow operations typically require vast amounts of heat"

Anyone else think a hot plate and fan could be fun to make these fuckers check non grow apartments?

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headiez247 said:

meh.

Might work for small grows but for people with 9kw and more telling them to switch to LED is like telling someone to go buy a new house.

This is a major problem for people with large grows. Don't be so optimistic.

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Stress_test said:

Yo Bro...
The LED's go outside around your house. You get a bunch of IR LED's and wire em in a parallel series around your house. They aren't visible to the eye but fuck up night vision or FLIR because the IR from your LED's will out shine any heat loss.

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