Infrared Spy Plane Leads To Police Officer's House Getting Raided Over Poor Insulation
from the oops dept
Last year, we wrote about an odd use of infrared camera technology. Apparently, a city in the UK, Haringey, was sending out spy planes with infrared cameras to map out heat loss from every home. It then put the whole map online, so that everyone could see how much heat their homes were leaking. While perhaps a little creepy, it was kind of a neat use of the technology. What we didn't realize was that there's a secondary use of such technology as well. Apparently infrared technology from spy planes or helicopters is also used to detect potential marijuana growers. It seems the intersection of these two uses has caused a bit of a problem in one case.Boing Boing alerts us to the news that a woman who actually worked for the police department had her own home targeted in a drug raid (by officers who knew her) thanks to infrared imaging from a flyover that suggested she might be growing pot. Instead, it turned out she just had bad insulation. Still, the police admitted that they were going to raid the house no matter what, and if the woman hadn't been home, they would have broken in. You would think that, perhaps, a little more evidence would be needed. In the meantime, are police now going to scan the Haringey map above for more houses to raid?
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Police Raids in the UK?
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Re: Police Raids in the UK?
What's that?
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Re: Police Raids in the UK?
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Re: Re: Police Raids in the UK?
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Har
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This is a great example.
This is a perfect example. It seems as though she's got nothing to fear, but the police seemed to (incorrectly) think so. It appears that she didn't get in trouble but I really hope she was more pissed off about this than "honest mistake, mate." Not only was she harassed by the police, but she worked with and knew them.
Also, this is a great example of some lying authorities. "We are going to, get this, scan your house FOR FREE to see where heat may be leaking. Also, we are going to check for other things (for free, too!) but you don't need to worry about that unless we raid you. For free!"
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Re: This is a great example.
..."We are going to, get this (With your tax money), spend your tax money to scan your house WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION to see where heat may be leaking. Also, we are going to check for other things (While spending your tax money) but you don't need to worry about that unless we raid you. Again, paying for it with your tax dollars."
It's not free. It's paid for with every citizens' tax dollars.
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It's Nothing New
catching pot growers in Massachusetts
in the early to mid-1980's. The utility
bills are also searched for anomalies.
Every now and then they ran into people
growing perfectly legal plants or other
hobbies with similar signatures.
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Re: It's Nothing New
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Re: Re: It's Nothing New
Anyway,
What am I going to do if I just have a Data Center running in my basement? That would cause a huge jump in power usage.
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Not Allowed in the US
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Re: California illegal Search and Seizure
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Legit use of the data from my perspective ...
It isn't a tough call; the odd case where someone is pissing away energy, whether they know it or not is irrelevant. We need to put a stop to the problem & this is one tool in the war against it. It does not matter that she knew the officers ... Toronto, Canada recently had a large Grow-op bust and some of the people arrested were police.
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Re: Legit use of the data from my perspective ...
What's better, people buy crops grown in their own country, improving the economy, or they buy them from another country, creating a trade imbalance.
The problem is the police violating privacy laws, not people growing things in their attic. The problem is tools like you. Maybe the police should come and ransack your home, because with an attitude like yours, you've GOT to be smoking something.
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Response to post 5 and 6
http://www.abanet.org/publiced/preview/features/kyllo_us.html
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Re: Response to post 5 and 6
However, if they had probable cause prior to that, they could get a warrant to use thermal imagining and use that as evidence, I suppose. But then again, they could just raid the place, so I don't know why they would bother with the imaging (other than to know where to look maybe).
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Re: Re: Response to post 5 and 6
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Re: Response to post 5 and 6
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R-38?
Just curious, not that I have anything to worry about..........
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OLD!
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Re: OLD!
So? If you're looking for news perhaps you should try a news site. Techdirt is an analysis site.
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I mean, who's to say I'm not using heat lamps for an iguana or other tropical plants?
When you hear a low flying copter over your house at 10:30/11:00 or later at night - it's usually some local P.D. snooping around for pot growers. It's not like there are rapists, murderers, child molesters, and the like to catch. They gotta bust down those pot smokers to protect society!!!
lol
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Get your facts straight
Get your facts straight before you rant. How is this different to google uploading a picture of your roof onto google maps?
How is it different to a policeman walking a beat keeping an eye out for anything suspicous?
It remains a VERY dubious use of the technology due to the physics involved, but theres nothing in it that violates privacy laws. Police have been using thermal cameras on helicopters for ages.
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Re: Get your facts straight
Using these cameras as a tool for law enforcement is okay but as the only evidence is just lazy.
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Lots of folks speculate that the reason the growing/selling/smoking of pot is illegal, while the consumption of alcohol isn't, is for the simple fact that it's too easy to grow. It's much easier to grow marijuana than it is to brew beer and I have no idea how liquor is created but I'd assume, still tougher than growing a marijuana plant. So, some people take this idea and run with it, pulling out the 'taxes' argument. If marijuana were legalized, it would be tough for the government to tax. You would have all sorts of people growing their own, and giving no money to the government via taxes.
I think about it and realize it's not hard to hide the fact that you're smoking marijuana. But it's also not hard to hide the fact that you're an alcoholic. Neither are healthy. Anyone have ideas as to why alcohol (I would say cigarettes but they don't impair judgment quite as much) is legal while marijuana isn't?
Just a thought.
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Infra red spy plane
Surely there are better things to waste tax payers money on?
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Sheriff Raided My House.
Turn out I was running a cluster of 20 computers for development work.
But then they tried to intimidate me saying I was probably a mass spammer or into hacking.
What a bunch of goons.
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natural progression
Thank God for those douches at the ACLU protecting us from the bigger douches who would do this, and more, here in the States.
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Bake Sales, Hobbies, Arts and Crafts
Retirees could sell their arts, crafts and baked goods at the fair or on eBay, The extra taxes collected could go to pay down the national debt.
Winner: Nation's Grandchildren (who have to burden less debt), and the 4th Amendment by proxy (via a few ACLU lawsuits).
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They've also been beating people with night-sticks "for ages", but that doesn't it any better either.
Apparently you've either A) never been, or know any who has been, wrongly put in the cops investigative crosshairs or B) a tool. Thermal cameras see into your house. You think that doesn't violate privacy? That it's comparable to an overhead view of your roof? Right...
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Wastes of Time
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easy than making beer?
LOL. Apparently you have never 1. used a Mr. Beer and 2. never tried to grow a pot plant to bear fruit.
It's harder than you'd think!
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Unfortunately there will probably not be any lessons learned from this.
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Any one running a smart grow operation will figure out a way to pay taxes, just like super-hookers (sorry, sex workers) do.
As far as someone growing their own and not paying taxes on it. Why would they? Do you pay the government taxes for your vegetable or flower garden? However it isn't too easy to grow top quality mary-jane and it also takes a decent amount of time, money and space. People are allowed to brew their own beer and yet....most people still go out and buy it.
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Another use
Somehow, I expect to be hearing someone suggesting this before too long.
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Re: Another use
It doesn't work too well however. There are a huge number of variables involved which make that sort of comparison impossible.
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Re: Another use
Hey, just kidding. None of that would ever actually happen.
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ASSUME
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