Pubdate: Fri, 02 Aug 2002
Source: Cambridge Reporter, The (CN ON)
Copyright: 2002 The Cambridge Reporter
Contact:  http://www.cambridge-reporter.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1470

HYDRO TAKES BLAME FOR WRONGFUL BUST

"Oops. Our mistake." That in essence was Cambridge and North Dumfries Hydro 
Inc.'s response following an internal investigation into the errors that 
led police to crash through a family's front door on July 24, expecting to 
find a home-grow operation.

Instead 10 officers startled a family of three preparing for breakfast. 
There was no sign of marijuana or of the illegal hydro bypass police were 
expecting.

"We accept full responsibility for our error," Hydro president John 
Grotheer said in a release. "We are taking steps to ensure it does not 
happen again."

Grotheer admitted that because of an equipment error, the hydro company 
alerted regional police to a suspected hydro bypass.

"We understood that our calculations were in error," Grotheer said.

Excessive hydro usage is common tip-off to home grows because of the 
high-energy lamps used.

"We understood that our calculations were in error," Grotheer said.

The hydro company is publishing an apology in local newspapers today to the 
Ng family for the trauma the incident caused.

"Your family was blameless, and we regret the disruption, embarrassment and 
inconvenience this incident has caused you," the apology, written by 
Grotheer, reads.

While the Ngs may be able to forgive, they said it will take quite awhile 
to forget.

Fung Han Ng still has trouble getting to sleep at night.

"I guess I'm still thinking about the whole situation," she said. "Time 
will heal but it is still fresh. It will take me a long time to forget 
about what happened to me."

She and her husband want to make sure such a mistake "never happens to 
other people again."

Grotheer said recommendations are being made to ensure such a mistake 
doesn't happen again.

Waterloo Regional Police, who apologized immediately after the gaffe, were 
also concerned that such a mistake not happen again.

The local police force has raided close to 100 homes in the region - 
including two on Hilborn - in the last two years and had a 100 per cent 
success rate until the Ng operation.
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MAP posted-by: Beth