[EasyBakeIndica]

Structure Profiles with a Thermal Imager
Looking for indoor marijuana grows

(https://www.officer.com/online/articl...on=20&id=38502) (LE affiliated)
Updated: October 24th, 2007 03:14 AM EDT

JONATHAN BASTIAN
Thermal Imaging Contributor
Officer.com

Believe it or not, the structure profile is probably the oldest and most common law enforcement application for a handheld thermal imager. It is also the most challenging application, due to a questionable Supreme Court ruling. However, the general notion is that you can use a thermal imager to help identify the presence of an indoor marijuana grow.

The Indoor Challenge

Growing plants indoors is not new, nor difficult. By bringing the soil inside (in a planter), regularly watering the plant, and allowing natural sunlight into the room, you can grow almost anything inside. The problem with growing marijuana inside, however, is that it's illegal (it's illegal outdoors too, but you get the point). And growers are greedy. Since it is illegal, they cannot grow plants near windows. Since they are greedy, they are not happy with just four or five plants.

Therein lays the pot grower's conundrum. He needs light, but cannot use natural light. Therefore, he has to use artificial light that simulates sunlight. Besides the tremendous amount of electricity this requires, it generates an overwhelming amount of heat. This is problematic for the grower, as marijuana does not grow well in hot environments.

So, the pot grower has to vent this excess heat somewhere outside the pot growing room. The greedier he is, the more plants he grows. The more plants he grows, the more lights he needs. The more lights he needs, the more heat he generates. The more heat he has, the more he has to vent. And, since the thermal imager sees heat...it can be a great tool to locate abnormal heat signatures on and around buildings.

By comparing a suspect structure to similar structures, you might see unusual heat build-up that indicates a grow room. Or, you might see strange heat patterns indicating the location and direction of vents. Either way, it can be another indicator in your investigation that the suspect is indeed growing marijuana.

Restrictions

Up until 2001, police officers could use a thermal imager to scan any home, farm, office, shed or other structure at their whim. Obviously, good police work dictates building sufficient probable cause to get an arrest or search warrant. Not only is it unethical, but it would also be a waste of time and effort to scan homes and buildings at random, just hoping to find odd heat patterns. As an investigator, you need to put in the time and effort to do things the proper way. The TI is not a shortcut to a good investigation; it's just a tool to help generate another piece of evidence.

That said, 2001 changed the thermal imaging landscape in the US. Erroneously stating that thermal imaging was a technology not available to the general public, and concerned that some unknown future technology might make it possible to see the intimate details of private life within the confines of a home's four walls, the Supreme Court banned a current technology that does not reveal the intimate details within a home.

Catch that? Yep, worried about something that does not yet exist that could see into a home, the justices decided to restrict a technology that does exist but does not see into a home. So, courtesy of Kyllo v. U.S., police officers must now obtain a search warrant prior to performing a thermal scan of a private dwelling. Notice, the Kyllo decision applies only to private dwellings, where the expectation of privacy is highest.

Now, some jurisdictions have required thermal search warrants for years. Some may now stretch the Kyllo decision to include businesses, outbuildings and the like. But as far as the U.S. Supreme Court cares, the warrant restriction applies only to scans of dwellings.

Ethical Use on Structures

As mentioned above, randomly scanning buildings to find a suspicious heat signature is wrong and a waste of resources. But once you have initiated a proper investigation into a suspect building, the TI can be part of the evidence you collect to prove your case.

Prior to scanning the suspect building, be sure you have your local prosecutors on board. Show them the technology; have them give their interpretation of the Kyllo decision. Demonstrate how the TI can help you gain additional evidence against the suspect without ever intruding into his personal space, or even stepping foot on his property.

Before you take the TI to the street on your first investigation, get formal training. One online article cannot even come close to giving you all the fundamentals necessary to legally and ethically perform a thermal scan of a structure. The Law Enforcement Thermographers' Association is the primary law enforcement trainer for TI use. Yes, I instruct for them. Yes, it's a plug. But, the reality is that if you plan to build indoor grow cases with a thermal imager, you need to be prepared for court. The LETA training is the only way I know to be certified and be ready.

Like every other thermal imaging application, the TI is not the silver bullet or ultimate tool. It is just one more tool in the toolbox that can help officers build a better case. Properly used, the TI can generate additional evidence to help secure the final search warrant, allowing you to go in and seize a lot of marijuana...and put a pot grower out of business.

(end story)

Jonathan Bastian is a police officer in Lexington, Kentucky. He works part time with Bullard as a Thermal Imaging Specialist and is certified through the Law Enforcement Thermographers Association (LETA) as a thermal imaging instructor. Jonathan has written dozens of articles and one book on the use of thermal imagers in public safety functions. He has over 15 years experience in public safety as a firefighter, EMT and police officer.

[okwildfire]

greedy?? i think not..well im not anyway..BULLSHIEST!!!!

[EasyBakeIndica]

Kyllo V. United States

"Suspicious that marijuana was being grown in petitioner Kyllo's home in a triplex, agents used a thermal imaging device to scan the triplex to determine if the amount of heat emanating from it was consistent with the high-intensity lamps typically used for indoor marijuana growth. The scan showed that Kyllo's garage roof and a side wall were relatively hot compared to the rest of his home and substantially warmer than the neighboring units. Based in part on the thermal imaging, a Federal Magistrate Judge issued a warrant to search Kyllo's home, where the agents found marijuana growing. After Kyllo was indicted on a federal drug charge, he unsuccessfully moved to suppress the evidence seized from his home and then entered a conditional guilty plea. The Ninth Circuit ultimately affirmed, upholding the thermal imaging on the ground that Kyllo had shown no subjective expectation of privacy because he had made no attempt to conceal the heat escaping from his home. Even if he had, ruled the court, there was no objectively reasonable expectation of privacy because the thermal imager did not expose any intimate details of Kyllo's life, only amorphous hot spots on his home's exterior.

Held: Where, as here, the Government uses a device that is not in general public use, to explore details of a private home that would previously have been unknowable without physical intrusion, the surveillance is a Fourth Amendment "search," and is presumptively unreasonable without a warrant. Pp. 3-13. "

I found Officer Bastian's opinion on the Supreme Court's decision to be a little twisted after reading the case.

[blAsia]

Pure intrusion. That is a total violation of privacy. It has come to a point, now, where technology is not MY friend. Who needs micro bots that float in the air spying on people? I don't. Glad to know the system needs permission to violate personal freedoms; every little bit helps. But we must not, as a society, let them take anything any further. BS, man.

[Been There]

they used FLIR (foreward looking infra red) on my friends house

[Jack D Ripper]

Originally Posted by EasyBakeIndica

as far as the U.S. Supreme Court cares, the warrant restriction applies only to scans of dwellings.

I didnt know that. I thought they couldnt scan any structures without a warrant

Originally Posted by Jack D Ripper

I didnt know that. I thought they couldnt scan any structures without a warrant

the cops can do whatever they want without a warrant. the warrant only effects whether the evidence they gather will be thrown out of court or used as evidence against you. if the pigs get a tip that you are growing weed or they follow you home from the grow shop they will thermal image your house if they have the image. if your house has the tell tale hot spots then the cops will go looking for evidence to get a warrant to thermal image your house for the "first time" because they sure won't tell the judge that already illegally did it.

your best defense against illegal thermal imaging is not some supreme court ruling, it's proper thermal management. you need to keep the grow rooms from showing up as hot spots. ICMAG has a bunch of threads which discuss how to do this. remember the pigs are waging a war against pot growers, and the only real rule in war is do whatever it takes to win.

i also believe that proper ventilation of lighting fixtures and good wall insulation can mitigate most worries about FLIR...odor is usually more of a problem for most people IMO..

[EasyBakeIndica]

Originally Posted by Nugalicious

i also believe that proper ventilation of lighting fixtures and good wall insulation can mitigate most worries about FLIR...odor is usually more of a problem for most people IMO..

I couldn't agree more. My point in posting this article here was to clear up a lot of the speculation which has spread about the use of FLIR and thermal imaging. Now that we can identify exactly what they are looking for, there are simple ways to remedy these "heat leaks".

[Verite]

Seems theyre all conspiring together to keep any and all evidence out of all court papers too.