Vancouver's notorious downtown east side is home to thousands of the poor and disenfranchised, where crime and drug addiction is rampant. Our story focuses on two of the patrolmen who make this area their beat and the citizens their concern.
Constables Arnie (Bruce Greenwood) and Tony (Brian Markinson) have been walking the skid row beat together for years and have become dissatisfied with the traditional police policies in the area. They embark upon a radical course of action to effect what they feel are desperately needed changes in the neighborhood.
Armed with a video camera, the two beat policemen put the area's drug addicts on tape and use this vehicle to change both the community views towards the addicts and to change the addicts' views of themselves. Their project soon earns them the scorn of their own police department in the person of their superior Sergeant McTavish.
The story unfolds in a fast paced and compelling narrative as the stories of the police and the addicts interweave, revealing the depth of character required by these street officers as they attempt to find solutions to an ongoing societal scourge. We come to appreciate the incredible fortitude required by both the beat patrolmen and their addict counterparts to endure conditions unlike any other city in the world. The relationships that develop with the individuals they deal with are both heart rending and heart warming.
1 x 120 MIN MOVIE FOR TELEVISION
PRODUCED IN ASSOCIATION WITH CTV
CO-PRODUCED WITH SARRAZIN-COUTURE ENTERTAINMENT
