helocopter grow heat detection?

[jamstigator]

In the U.S., the act of thermally imaging your home IN AND OF ITSELF constitutes a search and is thus illegal without a warrant. That's been ruled on by the Supreme Court, so that is the law of the land. In other words, they can't use thermal imaging to obtain a warrant; they must have a warrant first, for some other reason (leaves in your trash, see a bong through your window, something). And obviously, once they have a warrant, then it's cheaper and more effective (and probably more fun for the cops) to send a couple squad cars over and tear your house apart, rather than use an expensive helicopter and thermal imaging equipment.

[jonnypotseed]

i thought that the plant has its own thremal signature. and that signature is what they are looking for? and i also thought that the helo was used mainly to cover ground outside .....

[deftdrummer]

Generally here in the states this is how it goes down:

First, a law enforcement unit would either have to have a tip or actually fly over a large region first before sending out other aircraft to try and properly identify the crop. Contrary to what some people think, marijuana does not give off a heat signature that can be detected by any type of aircraft that local law enforcement would be using. Perhaps the ATF task force or the military, but not local government and law enforcement.

The way large crops are discovered outside is due to the heat given off by water lines. Water carries a temperature warmer than the ground when it it routed through piping under the crop as with irrigation. What gives the grower away is the fact that the water and piping under the ground actually warms up the surface so that small lines or "grids" can be identified by infa red. Outdoor growers in remote regions also need power, and often times the underground generators or the exhaust venting from them give a grow away the same way the irrigation lines do.

Thermal imaging equipment cannot be used to see through a house, not only that but it would be too much trouble to do that for an indoor grower. The reason police do not have to have a warrant to arrest someone (if they are caught) is because most growers choose remote areas either where the owner is no where to be found or if the land has no owner. This takes away all associations to the grower and also enables the grower to be more stealth. In this case, law enforcement can fly over whatever they and and put you in jail for growing even though they didn't have a warrant in the first place.

I am involved with emergency medical dispatch and also search and rescue and law enforcement personnel on a constant basis, some of which have pilots I have personally talked with about methods for catching pot growers. In fact, many pilots get a sort of adrenaline rush off catching growers.

[jamstigator]

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that thermal
imaging to record the amount of heat emanating from a house, a police
practice often used to help detect illegal drugs, represented a search
covered by constitutional privacy protections.

The court's 5-4 ruling was a setback for the U.S. Justice Department ,
which argued the use of a thermal imager by law enforcement officers to
detect the heat emitted from a house was not a search and was not covered
by the privacy protections.

Justice Antonin Scalia said for the court majority that when the
government uses a device not in general public use to explore the details
of a private home that would previously been unknowable without physical
intrusion, the surveillance is a search and requires a warrant."

That was ruled on just a few years ago in the U.S., and undoubtedly pissed off the DEA, because now thermally imaging someone's home is considered a search and requires a warrant. That's only in the U.S. though; I don't know how other countries have ruled, but in the U.S., you have little to fear from thermal imaging. I mean, they fly overhead and point the thermal imager at your home and see the heat from 500 1k lights, THEY have just broken the law, by remotely 'searching' your home without a warrant. Which means that anything they might discover as a consequence of the thermal imaging would be fruit from the poisonous tree and would be thrown out in court.

[jamstigator]

A link with better info, including why the Supreme Court ruled the way it did:

http://www.cognitiveliberty.org/dll/kyllo1.htm

[jamstigator]

Oh, here's a Wiki on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyllo_v._United_States

So, they thermally imaged his home, discovered a huge grow operation, used the thermal imaging to get a warrant (can't do that anymore), and raided his house, caught him red-handed. He fought it to the Supreme Court and they ruled that thermal imaging IS a search, and requires a warrant, then referred the case back to the lower court (so they could see if, absent the thermal imaging, they had enough probable cause to get a warrant). They had basically no other evidence, so Kyllo is now a free man. And thanks to him fighting that case all the way to the top, indoor growers across the U.S. can all breathe a little easier. Seeing as how the raid on his home was ultimately deemed illegal (because of the lack of a warrant before thermally imaging it), I wonder if they had to give him back all his lights and plants. Heh.

[L3G10N]

I know this guy, older man in his late 50's old stoner guy. He told me once one of is buddies got raided on his property because a chopper saw lots of heat signatures coming from his land. Turns out, this old man grew nothing but Okra plants. He was telling me that Okra puts off the same signature and marijuana. Dont know how legit this is but i thought it was funny. And he said the LEO's told him "you better watch your back" Im thinking.. for Okra? HAHAHAHHAA. Hey buddy, you better watch it with all that Okra or we'll throw the book at you.

[jOnJoNbLaZiNi]

ok so they need a warrant to scan your house but what if it is a shed next to your house which raises a thermally imaged eyebrow?? i know that a search warrant is different for them to search your house so what would be the restrictions on thermally scanning it.??

[peeples]

fact is thermal imaging technology is not relative to x-ray technology