Paul Nguyen said he hopes to have the video up and running by November; the content will re-enact several situations common to residents and police in the Jane Street and Finch Avenue area.
Each re-enactment will show how people typically respond, then will show the same situation with how individuals should respond, he said.
"If you are in a car, on a bike or the cops show up at your door, you need to know what your rights are," Nguyen said. "It's not a knock on the cops, it's more of a tool for residents to make relations with the police more smooth."
Nguyen said he's toyed with the idea of making this type of video for some time but decided to seriously focus on it after Jane-Finch.com executive producer Mark Simms, who is black, was stopped in front of Nguyen's home for no apparent reason.
And Nguyen, who is Vietnamese, is no stranger to police questioning.
"I was driving at night and was pulled over and was asked what I was doing," Nguyen said. "He let me go and said to go straight home. Another time I was standing with Mark in my driveway and a cop asked me for I.D."
Nguyen is enlisting help from Osgoode Hall Law School students to help with legal details, he said, adding the video will be a learning lesson for him as well.
"I'm like most people," he said regarding his legal rights when dealing with police. "I also don't know what to do."
Sgt. Scott Purches of 31 Division said it was encouraging to see Nguyen produce this type of video, but added he hoped the information portrayed is accurate.
"We want people to know what their rights are," said Purches, a community response officer who was part of the TAVIS (Toronto Anti-Violence Intervention Strategy) initiative in the Jane Street and Finch Avenue area. "Every person has rights and we are not here to violate those rights."
Purches said he encourages officers to explain to an individual why he or she is being questioned, noting public safety is at the forefront of the police services' efforts.
"There could have been a robbery or other problems in the area," he said.
A link on the Toronto Police Services website titled What to Expect When Stopped By Police outlines police procedures during stops and what the rights of citizens are.
The link on the police service's home page can be viewed at www.torontopolice.on.ca