Ottawa police get $13.8M community policing boost

The Ontario government is granting the Ottawa Police Service $13.8 millionto boost community policing,Carleton MPP Goldie Ghamari announced Tuesday afternoon.

The money comes from a larger community safety and policing grant, which is separate from previously previously-announced guns and gangsfunding.

Deputy chief Steve Bell said the provincial funding will help bolster neighbourhood resource teams that are being deployed in Vanier-Overbrook, Carlington and south Ottawaas part of the force's return to community policing.

The service will use the money for 20 officers for neighbourhood resource teams and 12 traffic enforcement officers. Police have not said where specifically those officers will be deployed.

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"Community policing and the re-emergence and rebuilding of our community policing program is extremely important to us," Bell said.

"You'll see more investments next year as we continue to evolve and re-align our community policing strategy. The flexibility of the funding that the provincial government is providing us will allow us to enhance this."

Bell said Ottawa police never want their commitment to community policing to be questioned again.

In 2017, Ottawa police reassigned more than 60 community-based officers to front-line patrol as a cost-saving measure.The number of full-time community police officers was reduced from 15 to 10.

'A relief,' union says

Matt Skof, president of the Ottawa Police Association, said the funding will help reverse the previous move away from community policing when the service reduced overall staffing.

"At a municipal level, our budget have been restricted. Staffing levels, of course, have been unfortunately suffering from that," he said."Seeing this commitment is a relief."

Skof said he hopes the funding will go toward restoringprevious staffing levels, which he identified as a key cause of low morale among the rank and file.

Ghamari said the Ontario government will ask for annual reports on the use of the community policing grant.

The province is also putting$52,786.24 toward the RIDE program, which targets impaired driving.