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Helicopter over Batavia yesterday: NYSP looking for marijuana growing

By Howard B. Owens

A few people had a question for us yesterday: Why was a State Police helicopter circling over the City of Batavia?

Answer: Marijuana eradication.

Rebecca Gibbons, spokeswoman for the State Police, just provided the answer.

"This is the time of year that it is very visible," Gibbons said.

The helicopter is in the air again today, but Gibbon's doesn't have information what areas it would be covering during its marijuana eradication mission.

Peter O'Brien

Waste of money. Any figures on how much it costs us, the taxpayers, to fund this search? Were they successful? Are they really going to notice individual plants in a home garden?

Aug 14, 2009, 10:36am Permalink
Chelsea O'Brien

Actually, Peter, they can find individual plants. Generally in Hilton they'll find 5 or 6 plants in some field that kids plants and the farmer didn't know about or something.

Aug 14, 2009, 10:43am Permalink
Chelsea O'Brien

I don't know, but I can spot certain plants a ways away. I'm not sure about marijuana plants, but they may have specific markings or blooms or something this time of year that makes them very easy to find.

Aug 14, 2009, 10:46am Permalink
George Richardson

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 7, 2000

Spectral Camera Spots Marijuana Plants From High Elevations

ORINCON Corp., the leading provider of innovative solutions and diversified intelligent systems technology for the information age, has announced that it will demonstrate with the West Virginia State Police this summer a new method for the automatic detection of marijuana crops using an aircraft-mounted sensor. This represents a tremendous advance over current visual inspection methods.

Aug 14, 2009, 11:30am Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Careful about the mowed lawn idea -- the rest of the grass might get too long, then you'd be fined $250 for weed abatement.

One kind of weed or another, I guess ...

Aug 14, 2009, 11:40am Permalink
cj sruger

It sucks having that stupid chopper buzzing back and forth over the house all weekend,it kind of pisses me off, how many times do they need to go over the same area? I must be in a hot spot. dont they use some heat sensing gun or something, I heard the plant gives of a different temperature than most of the native plants around here. Except for sumac trees, they are close to the same temp.

Aug 14, 2009, 11:46am Permalink
terry paine

I wonder what drugs the troopers will be doing tonight beer,wine,liquor?

Howard since your a Libertarian and mentioned tall grass did you see Penn and Tellers Bull Sh-t show about lawns?

Aug 14, 2009, 12:56pm Permalink
George Richardson

"I wonder what drugs the troopers will be doing tonight beer,wine,liquor?"
Or, pot they dried in the Microwave from whatever they found today? It's pitiful that Grandpa can't get pain relief because of Big Badass Brother.
"It's a crying shame, that's what it is, a crying shame." - A quote from a personally related story by my fine friend Steve Huff.

Aug 14, 2009, 3:45pm Permalink
Gary Diegelman

To an expert they can pick out individual plants in the middle of a corn field. Many times the chopper is up in the air anyway doing training and maintainence runs. Pilots need so many hours in the air anyway why not look out for plants. If there was no control at all marijuana traffic would increase dramatically supplying drugs more readily to our youth. Just what we need more pot heads on welfare.

Aug 14, 2009, 3:49pm Permalink
George Richardson

Spray paint today, mow it tonight. Destroy the evidence, except for the YouTube video and police helicopter tape. You will go free if you promise to never be a bad boy or girl again, and you must promise to mow the lawn at the State Police Interment Camp for a year. You O.K. with that? Good. Even after all that, I still support Obama, I don't think he is a fake. Park the Helicopters Boys, and yes I do mean boys, or girls. Stop the harrassment of decent law abiding citizens. That's my rant for today, later.

Aug 14, 2009, 4:04pm Permalink
John Woodworth JR

Wow George, they are harassing law abiding citizens who grow marijuana. Spoken like a true Pot Head, George! Oh excuse me, are you a huffer(spray paint)instead? FYI, Grandpa's marijuana pain relief is legal through medical means.

Peter, if you are worried about your tax dollars so much, help the law and turn in the numb nuts that help dope up America. Like stated above, "Just what we need more pot heads on welfare!"

CJ they just do not fly over the same area all day. It is call flight paths. They check out different regions in the course of a day.

Aug 14, 2009, 7:17pm Permalink
Stephanie Armstrong

LMAO... funny how we think that all pot heads are on welfare... Half America's police force and more of our lawyers are so stoned they can hardly stand up. Wasn't there one just recently who died from an OD locally?? Not to mention doctor's abusing pain pills. Hate to tell ya, but most of our middle-class, high-school prince and princesses are ripped out of their gords, munching up all of mommy and daddy's name brand groceries. Why do you people spend all of your time criticizing people who use social services? Most of them are in the working poor, in case you don't know what that term means, they are people who work full time and are still under the poverty line. We are using tax dollars to bust these evil "potheads" who do nothing more than sit on the couch and giggle for a couple hours. Good Riddance, aren't there more important things to spend our tax dollars on?? Instead of all these very expensive, fancy, schmancy machines that can detect this evil drug, marijuana, that ruins lives one joint at a time, can we start working on some real problems?? Like homelessness, our plummeting literacy rates or unemployment rates?? Weed has been around longer than American government and its not going anywhere. Quit wasting our time and money.

Aug 15, 2009, 2:18pm Permalink
John Woodworth JR

STEPHANIE, Today society is all about me and give me, give me, give me. We have just become lazier and lazier.

I would like to know where your statistic of half of America's Police Force are stoners? Really? Here I thought smoking pot would get me fired. Damn what have I been missing? Damn that means half of my shift are stoners, now I have to fire them. More jobless coming your way and more welfare stoners.

I agree with you that more should be done helping OUR OWN COUNTRY and it's problems. Welfare is a broken system that needs to be repaired and stop soaking up our tax dollars.

Welfare does more damage than good. If you collect welfare I am sorry, but I have seen too many welfare families have nice expensive cars and their children in rags or not fed properly. Seen welfare moms who can barely support themselves and have more kids then they can handle, yet we pay them more money to help out with their "clan of kids!" Some of those moms could fall in with the people who collect welfare and use it to support their drugs or alcohol needs. Seen people who scam the system too.

So, you are more worried about a Law Enforcement Helicopter out doing its job then the foremention above. Sad truly sad.

Aug 16, 2009, 1:46am Permalink
C D

John, while your last comment was directed at Stephanie, I couldn't help myself from responding.

I grew up in Rochester, not Batavia. While, for my own sake, I didn't live in the inner city or downtown area, I still knew/know a lot of the RPD. Some by first name.

While saying half of America's police force and lawyers are stoners is a bit of a stretch and hard to prove, I can promise you that about half of the RPD, give or take, toke up on regular basis. Some of the things they see and have to deal with on a regular basis takes that much of a toll on their psyche.

I'm sure you'll find the same thing in large cities with a moderate to high crime and homicide rate.

Aug 16, 2009, 3:53am Permalink
Peter O'Brien

John,
I don't know any.
Second, I get paid to to test and fix electronics, not stop people from enjoying themselves.

Make it legal and be done with it.

Aug 17, 2009, 7:11am Permalink
Stephanie Armstrong

John-your perception of social services is totally off base. While there are certainly people who abuse the system, the vast majority do not. While crucifying single mothers, you seem to forget the dead beat dads that left them behind. You do not see social services for what it is meant to be, a hand UP not a hand OUT. While I agree that these services could use a reform, such as mandatory drug tests to access these services, you believe that the problem is much bigger than it is. I do not collect public services, though my income would allow me to; however, the stigma that you attach to the people to receive these services is very judgmental and somewhat narrow minded. In all reality, 90% of families who use TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy Families-what you refer to as 'welfare') grow out of these services in 2 years. You see, it is assistance to people who are struggling for a short period of time, until they are able to provide for themselves again. While there are always going to be exceptions, you are referring to a small minority of people who access these services. God forbid you are ever laid off and are in need of these services... I guess then you'll just be another pothead on welfare... as you will most definitely seek out drugs being that you are receiving government funded assistance.. right? Isn't that your logic??

As far as stoner cops go, you have to open up those eyeballs of yours and see the world for what it is. While I definitely cannot prove half of all police forces are getting high, there are quite a few who are- many more than people like yourself are willing to admit. If you research addiction/alcohol/substance abuse (as I do regularly as a senior Dean's List Social Work student) you will find that most of it lies in the middle to upper class (drugs aren't cheap!). Your comments are very condescending and very much incorrect in your assumptions and generalizations.

Aug 17, 2009, 5:39pm Permalink

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