ATTACKING PUBLIC POLICY A NO-NO FOR COPS

Vancouver Police Department Odd Squad constable Toby Hinton told the
Courier he was speaking "as an individual" when he slagged police board
chairman Mayor Philip Owen and the police department's official drug policy.

Police spokesman Scott Driemel excused the Vancouver cops who organized and
participated in a controversial drug conference designed to discredit the
city and the department, saying they were "on their own time, acting as
civilians." These statements are not simply ludicrous, they fly in the face
of policy directives that govern off-duty police and public servants in
this province.

The Vancouver conference was organized by the International Drug Education
and Awareness Society (IDEAS), which has four executive members: Bob and
Lynda Bentall as well as two Vancouver Police Odd Squad members, Al
Arsenault and Toby Hinton. Vancouver cops on the Odd Squad also provided
logistical support for the conference, among other things.

The Bentalls brought money to the table. What Hinton and Arsenault
contributed, besides manpower, was not just their opinions but the fact
they are cops. There is also no doubt that, because they are cops-and cops
whose reputation was enhanced by making an NFB film about junkies on the
Downtown Eastside-their opinions on drugs carry more weight than your
average car mechanic's.

Provincial public servants couldn't get away with what our Odd Squad rogues
have been up to. Policy directive 5.4 dealing with standards of conduct
states clearly that "public service employees must not use their position
in government to lend weight to the public expression of their personal
opinions," which is exactly what these guys do on a regular basis.

Now look at the code of conduct governing off-duty police, administered by
the office of the Police Complaints Commission. Sec. 16 says off-duty cops
cannot act "in a manner that is likely to discredit the reputation of the
municipal police department with which the police officer is employed."
Organizing a conference designed to discredit a major policy of your
employer would seem to fit that bill quite nicely.

Here's what Hinton had to say about that harm reduction drug policy, which
includes safe injection sites, in the Courier on Sunday: "As an
individual-not as a representative of any police department-I think [safe
injection sites] are based on fallacious logic and I think that it's going
to make Vancouver more of a cesspool than it's going to do any good."

Trying to duck by calling himself "an individual" just doesn't wash.
Imagine if Hinton was in the armed forces and, in his off time, made
speeches attacking Canada sending troops to Bosnia.

Arsenault and Hinton now complain that questions about their role in this
conference have trivialized the purpose of the conference.

You'd think they would take the question of just who sets public policy and
controls what our cops say and do, both on and off duty, a little more
seriously.

Chief Terry Blythe is already investigating a number of conference-related
events, including the possible use by Const. Chris Graham of an unmarked
police car to pick up conference guests, and the use of confidential police
documents printed out from the Canadian Police Information Computer (CPIC)
by Const. Gerry Wickstead for a display during a lecture he gave at the
conference. This is a no-no under off-duty policy section 8(a)(ii), which
deals with improper disclosure of information.

But the overall attack on public policy by police who claim sanctuary
because they're doing it on their own time is far more serious. Blythe and
the police board may be trembling at the prospect of expensive
litigation-Charter issues and all that-if they try and shut these cowboys
down. But letting them continue to run off at the mouth will only make
leadership and policy-setting impossible tasks.