MISSION STATEMENT

To educate the public about issues affecting the community.

OBJECTIVES

It is our goal to make high-quality multimedia products that will serve as effective social marketing tools for today’s youth on such topics as drug abuse, speeding, and other social problems. We also serve as a conduit for the dissemination of information on drug-related issues.

Toby Filming Woman

Toby Hinton filmed Serena Abotsway at Carrall Street and East Hastings Street in 1999. Her DNA was the first of the dozens of the missing women to be discovered on Picton’s farm. She was last seen Aug. 1, 2001. Like many other sex trade worker in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, she was addicted to drugs, the biggest pimp of these unfortunate women.

Campus Lecture

Toby Hinton lectures to Kwantlen College (Richmond campus) criminology students on drug and crime issues (Mar. 21, ’05).

Editing in Progress

Toby Hinton and Steve Plitt put some time in the Odd Squad edit booth (Nov., ’04).

DEDICATION

APRIL AND CARLEE

As we became involved in making ‘Through A Blue Lens’, so too did we become involved in the lives of the drug addicts that we chose to document. Through the process of filming the documentary our relationships underwent a gradual metamorphosis. Our role had transformed into much more layered ones than our historical relationship as police officer dealing with a drug addict on the street. We became friends with the participants, and we also became friends with their families. This was in direct contrast to my detached view of the street as a crisp new recruit in the Skids. The death of two drug addicts, who had also grown to be our friends, evoked a different response than I would have anticipated earlier in our careers.

Being realists, we knew that early death for some of the participants, based on their lifestyle, was inevitable. After all, working as police officers in this area we have dealt with a large number of deaths related to drugs, all of the deceased dying far in advance of what one would expect out of a natural life span in the best country in the world. But when we lost April, and one year later Carlee, it was something that we were not really prepared for. The possibility loomed ever present, but the reality was a stark reminder of why we set out to do this work. Both were very close to Odd Squad members, and both made a significant impact with their stories, for very different reasons.

As such, Odd Squad is dedicating this web site to the memory of

April Lynne REOCH (June 17, 1975 - Dec. 22, 2000) and
Carlee GADBOIS (Dec. 18, - Nov. 27, 2001).

Their dedication to the cause of educating youth about the perils of drug abuse will not ever be forgotten. They leave behind a solid legacy of drug prevention films that will continue to fight the battles that they ultimately lost.