Community policing pilot prompts questions days before launch

With less than a week before the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) launches a new community safety pilot, city councillorshad dozens of questions Tuesday about how theinitiative will unfold in their communities.

Launching May 6, the initial four-month phase includes a reorganization that will result in a fourth OPS division covering the city's southern sector.

Each division will have its own inspector who will be responsible for roughly six city wards.

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It's all part of abroader community policing strategydeveloped alongside the Ottawa Police Services Board in 2023, andwhich is meant to set the force's direction over the next three years.

"We want to get back to a community policing model, one where we are adapting our approach to specific ward priorities and needsbe it rural, suburban or urban," said Chief Eric Stubbs during a technical briefing for councillorsabout the pilot.

Some councillors demanded specifics, however.

"What, practically, can I tell residents that they're going to see that's going to be different as a result of this changing system?" asked Barrhaven West Coun. David Hill.

Some aspects still unclear

Alta Vista Coun. Marty Carr said she understands why so many of her council colleaguesare looking for greater clarity.

"It's not concrete as of yet exactly how things are going to change and evolve and how it's going to strengthen those ties within the community," she said.

It's difficult for me to imagine what I see on paper and until we really see it in the pilot phase, I'm probably not going to have those answers.- Coun. Marty Carr

"It's difficult for me to imagine what I see on paper and until we really see it in the pilot phase, I'm probably not going to have those answers."

Carr, who also sits on the police board, said she agrees that a more community-focused approach to policing is needed, and said it's something she hears often from her constituents.

Carr said despite calls from residents to improvepolice service in their neighbourhoods, there's also been "a growing recognition that policing is not the answer to many of the challenges that we face in our communities."

The pilot could be a first step toward addressing that, and toward improving trust and accountability, she said.

Officers to remain'in their wards'

Many councillors were keen to know how these changes will help address the problem of officers being pulled away from their communities to respond to frequent demonstrations downtown.

"I am assuming that for at least the short term, we will continue to see that if there is a need in the core that we will lose some of our officers in our communities, in suburban and rural areas," said Orlans WestInnesCoun. Laura Dudas.

Coun. Geroge Derouze echoed her concerns, saying it's normal for his office to receive two or three emails a week about potential protests and demonstrations requiring increased police presence.

"There's no doubt that there will still be some draw into some of our major events," Stubbs said, adding that neighbourhood resource teams are often the first to get tapped in those situations.

"That's where we want to mitigate those units and keep them in their wards,in their areas that they should be working," he said.

Stubbs said the top priority of the first phase is to gather feedback from councillors and residents on what they'd like to see in their districts. Where possible, those requests willbe incorporated into later stages of the pilot.

The pilot is slated to run until December 2025.