The Vancouver Police Department claims it is still investigating how a local website obtained an internal police bulletin and photographs of three men who were wanted for questioning after they were seen taking photographs at Pacific Centre Mall last January.

In an email to the Straight, Darrin Hurwitz, counsel to the VPD’s information and privacy unit, wrote that the force would not respond to freedom-of-information requests filed by the Straight.

“I write further to your three FOI requests received January 20, 2016,” Hurwitz wrote on March 3. “In those requests you sought various records that appear to be related to release of a bulletin involving Pacific Centre by VanCity Buzz.

“As this matter remains under investigation by the Vancouver Police, we are relying on section 15 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act to withhold records related to this issue.”

Section 15 of the act consists of a number of provisions that allow government organizations to refuse to release information if doing so would be “harmful to law enforcement”.

The Straight filed the requests in question after the local website published photographs that the website later said it had obtained from an internal police bulletin it had received from a member of the VPD.

“On January 14, we were sent an internal Vancouver Police Department memo being widely circulated among law enforcement agencies,” reads a January 15 statement attributed to the website's editor-in-chief, Farhan Mohamed. “After speaking with a member of the VPD connected to this matter, the validity and language of the memo was confirmed. At that time, the officer acknowledged awareness that an article was forthcoming that would contain this information and photographs. There was no objection to our publishing raised during this call nor in any subsequent contact with VPD.”

The original post published on January 14 included photographs of the three men wanted for questioning and quoted the VPD internal bulletin describing them as “men who look Middle Eastern”.

Mohamed promoted the post on Twitter with a message that read, “Goodnight & stay safe, #Vancouver.”

The following morning, VPD chief Adam Palmer said the force was never planning to go public with a warning about the men. He explained the VPD only responded with information intended for the public after an internal report was leaked to media.

The VPD subsequently released a statement that cleared all three men of any wrongdoing.

“Vancouver Police have identified and spoken to the three men seen in security footage at Pacific Centre Mall,” it reads. “All three men were cooperative with investigators and they had a very logical explanation regarding their behavior. The investigation has conclusively determined that their actions were completely innocent.”

On January 17, one of the men, Mohammed Sharaz, came forward to speak with CBC News and offer an explanation. He said he was at Pacific Centre with his son, who struggles with impaired vision and who takes photographs to help him see.

"My friend, when he looks at anything head on, he doesn't see like me and you do," Sharaz said. "So he'll take a picture or a movie and then later on when he gets back he zooms into it and he watches stuff….He takes pictures of anything and everything."

In another interview, Sharaz, told the Vancouver Sun the three men subsequently feared for their safety.

"My son is registered blind, and now when he goes back to school and somebody looks at this picture, his face is clear as day," he said. "It's going to be very difficult for him to get on with the rest of his life. That's the only thing I'm concerned about."

The Straight has encouraged the VPD to revisit its refusal to respond to the one of the freedom-of-information requests filed. The Straight is also considering applying for a review of the VPD’s handling of two other requests by the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia.