POLICE BOARD REQUESTED TO REVIEW ODD SQUAD

The board of a Downtown Eastside drop-in centre for female sex-trade
workers has written to the Vancouver police board, listing several
concerns about the way the Odd Squad films documentaries. The Odd Squad is
comprised of Vancouver police officers who shot footage for the real-life
drug-education video, Through a Blue Lens.

In the February 6 letter, which the Straight recently obtained, the
then-acting chair of the WISH Drop-In Centre, Barbara McWilliams, claimed
that several of the women who come to the centre "have expressed to staff
and to Board members serious concerns about what many see as forced
participation in Odd Squad filming and other initiatives".

"It is not clear whether Odd Squad members film while doing VPD shifts but
they certainly approach potential subjects while in uniform and with the
implied power of the Police Department behind them," McWilliams wrote in
the letter. "Virtually all drug users and sex trade workers are
participants in illegal activities. Even when no such trade off is implied
or stated, subjects can feel coerced into agreeing to appear on film if
they fear the alternative is possible arrest....Under such an unequal power
balance, informed consent becomes a virtual impossibility."

The letter asked the board to "clarify the position of the Vancouver Police
Department on the activities of the Odd Squad". Judy McGuire became chair
of the centre's board of directors on March 27. She told the Straight that
she had no comment, and that the letter speaks for itself. "We had no
intention to release it," she said.

An Odd Squad member, Vancouver police Const. Toby Hinton, told the Straight
that nobody from the centre called the filmmakers for their side of the
story. McGuire said that the issue involves police-department policies, and
that is why the concern was brought to the police board. The police board
has not replied to any of the concerns.

Hinton faxed several letters of support for the Odd Squad to the Straight,
including one from Darlene Rowley, who appeared as a subject in Through a
Blue Lens. In a letter to the chair of the police board, Vancouver Mayor
Philip Owen, Rowley wrote: "When I was asked to be in this film I was not
threatened or coerced. I had just overdosed on cocaine and had been running
through the streets of the downtown eastside. If it weren't for Al
Arseneault and Toby Hinton, I wouldn't be alive today. They saved my life
that night."

Hinton also faxed letters of support from relatives of others in the
documentary. He said that the "power-differential complaint" has no
validity. "We spend a good deal of personal time dealing with these
individuals that have been profiled in our documentary," he said. "We're
committed to trying to provide support and help to them in their future
endeavours as well."

Hinton said that in the early days, the members would film while on duty,
but that no longer occurs. "I do get frustrated when we have to justify
good work," he said, claiming that the video has forged a connection with
thousands of people around the world. "It's a simple question: do you
support reality-based drug education for youth? If you do, I don't think
it gets any better."

McWilliams's letter noted that Odd Squad members are now in the process of
recruiting Native youths between 13 and 17 for a new film. "The
involvement of police personnel with youth under such circumstances raises
a number of child protection issues, not the least of which is whether
such youth are capable of giving legally informed consent to appear in such
a film," she wrote. Hinton described the concerns about filming
Native youths as "a pile of crap". He said no filming is occurring right
now, and a trailer won't be done until after all the research is completed.
In addition, he said, the Odd Squad is working collaboratively with the
Vancouver Police and Native Liaison Society, and has sent a survey to 160
different Native organizations.

"We're only looking for input on what issues are important to youth,"
Hinton said.