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Saturday, November 27, 2010

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Local

By KYLE REA TIMES-JOURNAL

Posted 2 hours ago

On the hunt for a new home and concerned at one time it may have hosted a grow-op?

The St. Thomas Police Services website should be your first stop, as it contains a list of a homes since 1999 that have been the scene of a drug growth operation.

Located at www.stps.on.ca/index.php/Reports/CrimeStatistics, more than 40 homes are currently on the list. The last home to be listed as a growop location was in September, 2009.

St. Thomas Deputy Chief Darryl Pinnell explained the idea came about years ago after learning London police do something similar.

“We had a conversation with our local real estate board and they were concerned about the resale of houses that were former grow ops. So after that discussion, they asked if it was something we would make available and we said we would, and that’s when we decided to put it up,” he explained.

Pinnell added the houses are posted after grow-op related charges are laid and a police clerk is in charge of ensuring the website is up to date.

Not every home raided for drugs is to be posted — a number of things have to exist to qualify.

“Really what we’re doing is determining, is it a grow operation and was there a hydro bypass, is it a tentative greenhouse situation? That’s the sort of criteria we look for. There isn’t necessarily damage to the house, but in a lot of cases there is,” Pinnell noted.

He added the City of St. Thomas is also involved, whereby the home is inspected to ensure it’s safe and can be sold again.

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