Pubdate: Wed, 28 Mar 2012 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66 POLICE SEEK UTILITY COMPANY SUPPORT IN HIGHLIGHTING GROW OP POWER THEFT POLICING * It's time for utility companies to be more transparent in monitoring and reporting power stolen by organized crime groups for illegal drug grow operations, the city's police commission says. The commission plans to bring the issue to the forefront this month at the Alberta Association of Police Governance's annual meeting in Canmore. Calgary's commission wants the Alberta group to urge the province to force utility companies to be transparent about how much power is being stolen, use current technology to identify utility theft, monitor lines for theft, and disclose theft to police in an effort to reduce utility theft. Utility customers are subsidizing organized crime operations each month when they pay their utility bills, Ald. Diane Colley Urquhart said at Tuesday's commission meeting. The companies aren't taking the theft of power seriously and turn a blind eye, she said. Marijuana growing operations often see criminals bypassing utility meters. The lucrative criminal practice is a dangerous one, and several house fires have been sparked by tampering. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom