Ottawa Police Service
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The Ottawa Police Service (OPS; French: ''Service de police d'Ottawa'') is a
municipal police Municipal police, city police, or local police are law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government. This includes the municipal government, where it is the smallest administrative subdivision. They receive funding ...
force in
Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
. The OPS serves an area of 2,790 square kilometres and 1,017,449 (2021 census) people alongside several other police forces which have specialized jurisdiction.


History

The OPS' roots come from the formation of the "
Bytown Bytown is the former name of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was founded on September 26, 1826, incorporated as a town on January 1, 1850, and superseded by the incorporation of the City of Ottawa on January 1, 1855. The founding was marked by a Grou ...
Association" in 1847. In 1855 Roderick Ross was the first chief constable for the newly-formed City of Ottawa. Over time, neighbouring municipalities also formed their own police forces, including Eastview in 1913 (which became the Vanier Police in 1963) and Gloucester-Nepean in 1957 (in 1964, this service split into separate Nepean and Gloucester forces). As a precursor to future amalgamations, the Vanier Police were absorbed by the Ottawa Police in 1984. In 1995, the Ottawa, Nepean and Gloucester police forces amalgamated to form the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police Service. The service area of the new force was extended to those portions of Ottawa-Carleton that had previously been policed by the
Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorpo ...
. The service was given its current name in 2001, to reflect the amalgamation of Ottawa-Carleton's constituent municipalities into the new City of Ottawa. Over the course of Ottawa's history, the police forces have had 14 officers killed in the line of duty.


Policing Philosophy

According to the OPS, they take a community oriented approach to policing. This can be demonstrated through numerous sections within the OPS. Firstly, the Neighbourhood Resource Team program (NRT) was created to deploy frontline constables into high crime and high traffic areas. NRT constables have created a noticeable difference in the downtown dynamic. After the closure of the OPS school resource officer program, NRT gained a new youth subdivision. The NRT youth division is meant to engage with at-risk youth outside of the education system. Secondly, the PIVOT team works to combat guns and gangs within Ottawa through a strategic deployment to certain communities. The Ottawa Police hiring process is longer than most services in Canada. An onboarding process can take up to 18 months to complete- this is even before training. Frontline OPS constables are expected to prioritize community interaction, which is a different approach from traditional law enforcement.
Community policing Community policing, or community-oriented policing (COP), is a strategy of policing that focuses on developing relationships with community members. It is a philosophy of full-service policing that is highly personal, where an officer patrols ...
is displayed in many OPS units. Frontline and NRT constables are expected to make connections with citizens and businesses in the areas they serve. This in turn, creates a more trusting environment all-around. The OPS was the first police service in Canada to include a Hate Crimes investigative branch.


Organization

The interim
chief of police Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...
is deputy chief Steve Bell. On Friday, October 21st, 2022, Ottawa Police Service Board Chair announced RCMP Assistant Commissioner Eric Stubbs would become Ottawa’s next Chief of Police effective November 17th, 2022. The rank of senior constable is no longer awarded, however the rank is still in effect until the last senior constable retires. To have become a senior constable, an officer had to have had ten years service and have successfully completed the sergeant's promotional exam. With very rare exceptions, all police officers receive their three-month police training and basic constables diplomas at the
Ontario Police College The Ontario Police College (OPC) is a police academy located in Malahide Township, just east of Aylmer, in Elgin County in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. History The Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) proposed the idea of a central ...
, located in Aylmer, Ontario. New police recruits are hired as 4th class constables, and without any training or discipline issues, can expect to reach the rank of 1st class constable within three years. A 1st class constable has a base salary pretax of approximately $96,000, not including overtime and off-duty court time. This pay rate is the norm compared to other police services found within Ontario and generally the Ottawa Police Service falls within the top five highest paid services in the province. The OPS also maintains a Ceremonial Guard to attend the many community events and parades that occur in Ottawa as a representative of the police service, and the Ottawa Police Service Pipe Band, which competes every season in the Ontario pipe band circuit, most notably finishing as Ontario Championship Supreme in grade 2 in 2012.


Inter-agency relationships

Security services at
Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (french: Colline du Parlement, colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern banks of the Ottawa River in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its Gothic revival suite of buildings, and their architectu ...
and the parliamentary district in Ottawa are handled by the
Parliamentary Protective Service The Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS; french: Service de protection parlementaire, ) is the office of the Parliament of Canada which provides physical security within the Parliamentary Precinct in Ottawa, Ontario. Policy direction is set ...
(PPS) and
Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
(RCMP), not the OPS. The RCMP generally do not play a role in municipal police operations in Ottawa, with the exception of federal land managed by the
National Capital Commission The National Capital Commission (NCC; french: Commission de la capitale nationale, CCN) is the Crown corporation responsible for development, urban planning, and conservation in Canada's Capital Region (Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec), i ...
. Under federal and provincial law, the RCMP have jurisdiction over the entire city but maintain a mandate of diplomatic engagements, federal land, and the carriage rides. The
Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorpo ...
patrol Ottawa's main provincial highways ( Highway 416 and the Queensway). The
Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...
deploy their own
military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear recon ...
to patrol Department of National Defence property in Ottawa (
National Defence Headquarters (Canada) National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) ( French: ''Quartiers généraux de la Défense nationale'' (''QGDN'')) was created through the integration of Canadian Armed Forces Headquarters (CAF HQ) with the civilian Department of National Defence (DND ...
, NDHQ Carling,
CFS Leitrim Canadian Forces Station Leitrim, also referred to as CFS Leitrim, is a Canadian Forces Station located in the neighbourhood of Leitrim in Ottawa, Ontario. It is concerned with the interception, decrypting and processing of communication for the ...
and Connaught Cadet Training Centre). The OPS provides law enforcement services at
Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport Ottawa/Macdonald–Cartier International Airport or Macdonald–Cartier International Airport (french: L'aéroport international Macdonald-Cartier) is the main international airport serving Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and its metropolitan area kno ...
and is also authorized to act on behalf of Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport Authority to provide certain security services. Before the 1997 semi-privatization of Class 1 Canadian airports, these services were provided by the RCMP to
Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...
. In April 2007, the Ottawa Police Services Board granted special constable status to transit law enforcement officers employed by
OC Transpo OC Transpo, officially the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Transit Commission, is the public transit agency for the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It operates an integrated hub-and-spoke system including light metro, bus rapid transit, conventional ...
. The OPS works in partnership with transit special constables who provide many frontline supplemental police services in cooperation with the Ottawa Police. In the same way, some of the safety personnel of
Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...
are sworn as special constables and hold limited police powers on campus grounds.


Operations

The OPS has five police stations and 19 community policing centres.


Patrol operations

*East division *Central division *West division


Criminal investigative services

*Homicide Unit *Arson Unit *Sexual assault and child abuse section *Partner assault section *Organized auto theft *Guns and gangs unit *Fraud section *Elder abuse section *General investigative services *Break and enter response *Victim crisis unit *Direct action response team (DART) *Street crime unit *Diversity, race and relations unit *Internet child exploitation unit (ICE) *Drug unit *Forensic identification section *Human Trafficking and Offender Management (Human Trafficking, Missing Persons, Sex Offender Registry, Dangerous/Long Term Offender, Threat Evaluation and Offender Management, Major Case Management/ViClas)


Support services

*911 communications *Court security and temporary custody: this section is responsible for prisoner security. The unit is staffed with police officers and special constables. Special constables are sworn-in pursuant to section 53 of ''Police Services Act'' which confers peace officer status. Special constables have the powers of a police officer when in the execution of their duties. *Victim services *Telephone response unit: call takers for minor crimes with no investigative leads *Imaging services unit


Emergency operations

* Tactical unit *Canine section *Traffic escort *Emergency services unit *Marine unit *Underwater search and recovery unit *Collision investigation unit *Airport policing section (protective policing services) at
Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport Ottawa/Macdonald–Cartier International Airport or Macdonald–Cartier International Airport (french: L'aéroport international Macdonald-Cartier) is the main international airport serving Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and its metropolitan area kno ...


Corporate services

*Media relations *Quartermaster *Planning, performance and analytics *Community development *Diversity and race relations


Executive services

*Professional standards section *Corporate communications


Fleet

Throughout the 20th century, the Ottawa Police Service and other neighbouring police services used a variety of vehicles, such as the
Chevrolet Caprice The Chevrolet Caprice is a full-sized automobile produced by Chevrolet in North America for the 1965 to 1996 model years. Full-size Chevrolet sales peaked in 1965 with over a million sold. It was the most popular car in the U.S. in the 1960s ...
.By the 2001 amalgamation, the majority of marked patrol vehicles deployed by the OPS were the
Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor The Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (colloquially referred to as the CVPI, P71, or P7B) is a four-door, body-on-frame sedan that was manufactured by Ford from 1992 to 2011. It is the police car version of the Ford Crown Victoria, and wa ...
(CVPI) and
Chevrolet Impala The Chevrolet Impala () is a full-size car built by Chevrolet for model years 1958 to 1985, 1994 to 1996, and 2000 to 2020. The Impala was Chevrolet's popular flagship passenger car and was among the better-selling American-made automobiles in ...
9C1. Following the CVPI's discontinuation in 2011, the OPS purchased
Ford Police Interceptor Sedan The sixth generation of the Ford Taurus is the final generation of the model range manufactured by Ford (in markets outside of China and the Middle East). Introduced for the 2010 model year, the sixth-generation Taurus is the second generation o ...
(FPIS) and
Ford Police Interceptor Utility The Ford Explorer is a range of SUVs manufactured by Ford Motor Company since the 1991 model year. The first four-door SUV produced by Ford, the Explorer was introduced as a replacement for the two-door Bronco II. Within the current Ford light ...
(FPIU) vehicles to replace it. The FPIS became the new majority of marked patrol vehicles in the fleet, especially after the Chevrolet Impala 9C1's discontinuation in 2016, until it was discontinued in 2019; since then, most FPIS vehicles in the fleet have been retired and replaced by newer FPIUs. In February 2021, the Ottawa Police Services Board discussed the possibility of using
electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...
police cars. In summer 2022, the OPS tested
Dodge Durango The Dodge Durango is a mid-size sport utility vehicle (SUV) produced by Dodge in three generations starting with the 1998 model year. The first two generations were very similar in that both were based on the Dodge Dakota and Ram Pickup, both fe ...
and
Dodge Charger The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge in various forms over seven generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. The Charger has ...
police vehicles. Vehicles used by the tactical unit include the
Ford Expedition The Ford Expedition is a full-size three-row SUV, manufactured by Ford. Introduced for the 1997 model year as the successor of the Ford Bronco, the Expedition was the first full-size Ford SUV sold with a four-door body. For its entire production l ...
and the
Lenco BearCat The Lenco BearCat is a wheeled SWAT vehicle designed for military and law enforcement use. It is in use by several military forces and law enforcement agencies around the world. History Since 1981 the Massachusetts-based Lenco Industries, known ...
. The OPS has one fixed wing aircraft, a
Cessna 206 The Cessna 205, 206, and 207, known primarily as the Stationair (and marketed variously as the Super Skywagon, Skywagon and Super Skylane) are a family of single-engined, general aviation aircraft with fixed landing gear, used in commercial air ...
and various marine vehicles that patrol Ottawa waterways in the summer. Replacement of marked general patrol vehicles Ottawa Police fleet:


Equipment

*
Glock 22 Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was the ...
pistols * Colt Canada C7 rifles and C8 carbines *
Remington 870 The Remington Model 870 is a pump-action shotgun manufactured by Remington Arms Company, LLC. It is widely used by the public for shooting sports, hunting and self-defense, as well as by law enforcement and military organizations worldwide. De ...
*
Mossberg 500 The Mossberg 500 (M500) is a series of pump action shotguns manufactured by O.F. Mossberg & Sons. The 500 series comprises widely varying models of hammerless repeaters, all of which share the same basic receiver and action, but differ in bore ...
shotguns, *
Taser X26 A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon (company), Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed d ...
, *
Taser X2 A taser is an electroshock weapon used to incapacitate people, allowing them to be approached and handled in an unresisting and thus safe manner. It is sold by Axon (company), Axon, formerly TASER International. It fires two small barbed d ...
, * Taser 7, * batons, * OC Spray (pepper spray), * Handcuffs, * Tourniquets, * Radios, * Many divisions within OPS carry tasers including the tactical unit, PIVOT, as well as most front line patrol officers. * Most marked Ottawa Police patrol vehicles are also equipped with automated external defibrillators in the trunk of their car. * With an increase of overdoses in Ottawa, all OPS units carry Nalaxone (NARCAN).


Controversies

In June 2020, Chief
Peter Sloly Peter John Michael Sloly (born 5 August 1966) is a Canadian former police officer who served as the chief of police for the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) from 2019 to 2022. Before joining the OPS, Sloly was a member of the Toronto Police Service ...
announced that Const. James Ramsay had been charged for creating a racist meme depicting racialized members of the Ottawa Police Service. The meme was a photo collage depicting 13 officers, most of whom were men of colour, and included the phrase "Ottawa Police Services – We're always hiring…anyone." The meme had circulated widely among the Ottawa Police Service before coming to the attention of Sloly. In late April, Sloly stated in a virtual meeting with the Ottawa Police services board that the meme targeted racialized members of the service. "It is an overt act of racism and it is unacceptable... This is more evidence of the need for a serious overhaul of our culture, ethics and ethical behaviour. The culture of the Ottawa Police Service needs significant improvement. We can no longer ignore this reality." Rasmay was temporarily demoted from first class to second class constable for 9 months as well as required participation in healing circle. In September 2020, Ontario Court Justice Peter K. Doody found that the Ottawa Police Service had "a pattern of systemic failure" towards respecting the
right to counsel In criminal law, the right to counsel means a defendant has a legal right to have the assistance of counsel (i.e., lawyers) and, if the defendant cannot afford a lawyer, requires that the government appoint one or pay the defendant's legal exp ...
guaranteed by Section 10 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms after a defense lawyer presented him with 15 cases over the previous three years – not including the case in question and a subsequently reported case – of the OPS failing to advise detainees of that right. In February 2022, Sloly resigned from the Ottawa Police Service amid controversy over his failure to disperse defiant anti-COVID-19 restriction protestors, which resulted in the Ottawa Police Service becoming managed by both the
Mounties The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...
and the
Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorpo ...
setting up a command centre in Ottawa to work with the local police. On February 16, 2022, Steve Bell, who has served as OPS Deputy Chief since 2016, was named as the interim Police Chief.


See also

* Ottawa By-law Services


References


External links


Ottawa Police Service websiteOttawa Police Services Board
{{Authority control 1855 establishments in Canada Organizations established in 1855 Law enforcement agencies of Ontario Municipal government of Ottawa