Ottawa Police Service & Ottawa Police Services Board

[GoTrans]

Originally Posted by stolenottawa

Correct, the city sends out a bill for their services.

If that is the case then I guess we can't complain about why the cost of public infrastructure projects is so high. All this is doing is taking taking funds from a different pocket on the same person, the taxpayer.

[passwordisnt123]

In any value added assessment there's two sides: a cost side and a value side. On the cost side, we know that the city paid close to $1 million per day for the bulk of the three week occupation. On the value side, I can speak from first hand experience that in Centretown, especially on Kent Street and Metcalfe Street and Elgin Street and Wellington Street, we received close to zero value. Those cops did next to nothing. I personally watched them watching crimes being committed and doing nothing. They ticketed almost nobody. I was blocked from leaving my building for weeks. They did nothing.

That's an extremely poor value for money proposition and when faced with that, I think it's reasonable and sensible to look at ways to resolve that imbalance by reducing the cost for the under-performing service, increasing the value added side of the ledger or, ideally, both. So yeah, mark me down for de-funding and de-tasking the OPS. They're a garbage service and we should be exploring ways where other better-value services can step in and take some things off their plate.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by passwordisnt123

In any value added assessment there's two sides: a cost side and a value side. On the cost side, we know that the city paid close to $1 million per day for the bulk of the three week occupation. On the value side, I can speak from first hand experience that in Centretown, especially on Kent Street and Metcalfe Street and Elgin Street and Wellington Street, we received close to zero value. Those cops did next to nothing. I personally watched them watching crimes being committed and doing nothing. They ticketed almost nobody. I was blocked from leaving my building for weeks. They did nothing.

That's an extremely poor value for money proposition and when faced with that, I think it's reasonable and sensible to look at ways to resolve that imbalance by reducing the cost for the under-performing service, increasing the value added side of the ledger or, ideally, both. So yeah, mark me down for de-funding and de-tasking the OPS. They're a garbage service and we should be exploring ways where other better-value services can step in and take some things off their plate.

For sure they were in a difficult spot and if even a fraction of the claims about protesters and organizers are true the fact that it ended without any real violence or even destruction is remarkable.

That said, I am in the Market so we didn't get hit as hard but the police blockade was frankly the worst part of it which doesn't seem right. Closing the Dalhousie exit from MC alone cost me probably 20 hours sitting in traffic. A Road block at George and Dalhousie was a minor inconvenience but it was frustrating to have to show ID and then every day see someone with a wagon of gas cannisters or a campervan be let through.

I know they are working out of the abundance of caution principal but that fact that Dalhousie is still shutdown is ridiculous as it creates havoc every morning for thousands of people.

[rocketphish]

Suspended deputy chief Uday Jaswal resigns from Ottawa Police Service ahead of disciplinary hearing
An Ontario Civilian Police Commission proceeding had been had been scheduled for Feb. 28-March 5.

Taylor Blewett, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Feb 24, 2022 • 10 hours ago • 2 minute read

Deputy Chief Uday Jaswal has resigned from the Ottawa Police Service, his lawyer confirmed Thursday, nearly two years into a suspension over sexual harassment charges and just days ahead of an Ontario Civilian Police Commission hearing on the matter.

Jaswal had been facing three counts of discreditable conduct and three counts of insubordination under the Police Services Act for allegedly sexually harassing two female Ottawa police officers and sexually harassing and assaulting a female civilian employee.

He had also been charged with two counts of discreditable conduct under the act stemming from his time as a deputy chief with the Durham Regional Police Service.

Ottawa lawyer Paul Champ, who has been representing two of the three women who have charged that Jaswal sexually harassed them, confirmed the OCPC proceedings would end with Jaswal’s resignation.

All eight charges were laid by the civilian oversight body for police officers in Ontario and were to be considered through the same proceeding, Champ said, with those charges related to sexual harassment being heard first.

The hearing had been scheduled for Feb. 28-March 5.

Jaswal was hired as a deputy chief in Durham in August 2016 after serving more than 20 years with Ottawa police, where he rose to the rank of superintendent. He returned to Ottawa in 2018, when the police services board hired him as a deputy chief.

His lawyer, Ari Goldkind, confirmed Jaswal’s client’s resignation from the police force and said he provided a detailed letter of resignation to the Ottawa Police Services Board.

Goldkind declined further comment on Thursday.

Champ’s client, Jennifer Van Der Zander, is the only one of the three women whose identity is not subject to a publication ban, Champ said.

Van Der Zander, a civilian police employee who shared her name and story of alleged harassment by Jaswal with CBC News last year, filed a human rights complaint in August 2019 that led the OCPC to lay its first charges against Jaswal. Those came in March 2020, followed quickly by his suspension, with pay, which the Police Services Act currently requires.

Ottawa Police Association president Matt Skof has said previously that, if not for Van Der Zander’s human rights complaint, “there’s a very good chance that none of these allegations would have seen the light of day.”

The other two women, both Ottawa police officers, directly approached the OCPC with accounts of sexual harassment by Jaswal. Taken together, the three women’s allegations stretched from 2008 to 2019 and ranged from a lewd text to, in Van Der Zander’s case, inappropriate touching at a colleague’s retirement party.

None of the allegations against Jaswal have been tested, and they won’t be, at least by the OCPC, following his resignation.

Champ said Thursday evening he’d spoken to Van Der Zander, who was in some ways relieved, but had been preparing to testify at the hearing next week.

“She’s disappointed that she’s not going to have that opportunity to tell her story.”

Champ called the moment an important one for the Ottawa Police Service. “And I hope it marks … finally a change in the culture there.”

Van Der Zander’s human rights complaint had been held in abeyance during the OCPC process, and Champ said they will be returning to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

With Postmedia files

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...linary-hearing

[J.OT13]

Disgusting!! Two years of paid vacation, and now he's off the hook. Probably given a huge pay day by resigning too.

“And I hope it marks … finally a change in the culture there.”

Hell no. This just shows that cops are invincible.

[rocketphish]

Police board unexpectedly back to determining what it needs in a new chief
Peter Sloly resigned in the middle of the capital "siege" and the police services board is left with the work of restructuring the executive command.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Feb 25, 2022 • 16 hours ago • 4 minute read

The city’s police services board needs to find a new police chief less than three years after starting a lengthy process to hire Peter Sloly.

The police board and city council couldn’t have predicted this position back in 2019, when they were optimistic that Sloly would lead Ottawa into a new era of policing.

That’s because no one also guessed a trucker occupation would call into question the ability of the Ottawa Police Service to enforce the law over a three-week emergency.

Sloly resigned in the middle of the capital “siege” and the police services board is left with the work of restructuring the executive command.

The next police chief will take over at a delicate time for the City of Ottawa, much like Sloly did in 2019, but his successor will be faced with pressures to change police call responses in collaboration with city hall while facing repeated demands from the public to reduce the police budget and examining the future of protest management in the nation’s capital.

On Friday, community group Horizon Ottawa continued to call for Ottawa police to be “de-tasked” and have police funding reallocated.

A day before that, the police board heard Blair Dunker, Ottawa police’s chief administrative officer, suggest more spending would be required to handle protests.

Hiring a new chief will be the top priority for a police board tasked with ensuring a stable executive command. Today, all three uniformed executive positions are acting, including Steve Bell, the acting chief, and a newly created deputy chief position isn’t filled.

It was telling that Coun. Diane Deans, before her ouster as police services board chair on Feb. 17, tried to convince city council that the police executive needed immediate help. The board led by Deans voted to bring in an outside chief to temporarily oversee the police, but it was ultimately a decision that cost her the leadership position. Multiple resignations on the board followed.

Finding a new police chief can be a long process, depending on what approach the board takes.

Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, the new board chair, and members are likely considering if the next permanent chief is inside the Ottawa Police Service. That assessment could set the path to finding a new chief.

El-Chantiry said this week that the board needed time to develop a “community-minded process” for hiring the next chief. He anticipated the board would make an announcement about the strategy before its next regular meeting on March 28.

Before hiring Sloly, the board held community consultation sessions ahead of formally launching a national search for a chief. The whole process cost just under $70,000.

In the last police chief transition, Charles Bordeleau retired in May 2019 and Sloly started in October 2019.

The transition from Vern White and Bordeleau was much quicker.

White left the chief’s job to become a senator in February 2012 and Bordeleau took over as chief in March. In that case, the board knew it wanted to promote from within the police force and had two veteran officers as deputies — Bordeleau and Gilles Larochelle, who went on to become Kingston’s police chief — ready to take over. It was just a question of which deputy would get the top job.

Hiring a new chief might be one of the last major acts of this iteration of the police services board, which could see a partial turnover after the municipal election in October.

It might also be the last high-ranking appointment that Mayor Jim Watson influences, even though he doesn’t sit on the police services board and has no direct governance role in local policing.

But the opinion of the mayor carries significant weight at Ottawa City Hall.

In criticizing Deans’s recent attempt to hire an outside chief, Watson threw his support behind Bell.

So, is Bell the front-runner for the job?

The board has already signalled confidence in Bell’s performance as a police executive by extending his contract as deputy chief. Last July, the board added another five years to Bell’s deputy contract, which now expires in December 2026.

Another factor is that Bell has been in charge during what is, so far, a successful operation to rid the downtown of protest occupiers. He also served as interim chief between Bordeleau’s retirement and Sloly’s hiring.

The next chief, whether the board hires from within or looks outside the force, will take command of the Ottawa Police Service under difficult circumstances, not made any easier by the occupation crisis.

A local after-action review will dig into police actions. The federal inquiry required by the Emergencies Act will scrutinize the response. And the police board has asked the Ontario Civilian Police Commission to consider investigating Ottawa police actions.

There’s never any shortage of drama for the police chief in the nation’s capital.

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...in-a-new-chief

[rocketphish]

Ottawa MPPs call on province to remove police board member over allegation he attended convoy protest
Ottawa Centre NDP MPP Joel Harden called Robert Swaita's alleged participation in the protests "disturbing".

Matthew Lapierre, Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Mar 02, 2022 • 8 minutes ago • 3 minute read

Two Ottawa MPPs are calling for the removal of Robert Swaita, a provincially appointed police services board member, after allegations emerged that he participated in the “Freedom Convoy” protests.

The allegations, which this newspaper has been unable to independently verify, were first reported by Queen’s Park Briefing, a news outlet whose focus is provincial politics.

This newspaper has reached out to Swaita for comment but had not received a response as of publication.

The Queen’s Park Briefing story, which was published Wednesday, said Swaita had attended protests near Parliament Hill “a few days after they started,” and before any level of government had declared an emergency due to the protests. The outlet cited an unnamed source as evidence that Swaita had attended.

Queen’s Park Briefing said it reached Swaita for comment about the allegation and he said “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

Following the article’s publication, Ottawa-Vanier Liberal MPP Lucille Collard said Premier Doug Ford and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones should remove Swaita from the police services board because of Swaita’s “ties” with protest occupiers.

Collard said constituents kept asking her why police weren’t clearing the occupation. A provincially appointed police services board member attending the protest doesn’t look good for a provincial government accused of moving slowly to clear the occupation and help businesses, she said.

“At the very least, it raises suspicion for delayed action, for delayed support,” Collard said Wednesday. “It’s not good for public confidence.”

Calls to Jones’ office were not returned before publication.

Ottawa Centre NDP MPP Joel Harden called Swaita’s alleged participation in the protests “disturbing”.

“This just adds insult to injury for the people of Ottawa, who are still picking up the pieces after a weeks-long occupation that wreaked havoc on their lives,” Harden said in a statement. “It would be completely unacceptable to allow someone who actively undermined local police by standing shoulder to shoulder with occupiers that local police were tasked with clearing out to continue to participate in local police oversight.”

Collard said she doesn’t have independent evidence that Swaita attended the protest, only what was reported by QP Briefing.

Asked if the context of Swaita’s alleged appearance at the protest matters, such as the time he was there, Collard said the premier should do his own investigation. “There is some work to be done here,” Collard said.

Collard also questioned why there was a full turnover of council-appointed members of the police services board, but the three provincially appointed members remained.

Eli El-Chantiry, the recently appointed chair of the OPSB, said in a statement the board became aware of the Queen’s Park briefing article on Wednesday afternoon.

“The Board was made aware of an article this afternoon alleging Board Member Swaita’s participation in recent protests near Parliament Hill rallying against COVID-19 vaccine mandates,” El-Chantiry said. “The Board will be meeting later this week to review the article and the allegations.”

Diane Deans, the former chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board who was ousted during the later stages of the demonstration, said in an interview Wednesday she was not aware of Swaita’s alleged participation.

“I am quite dismayed that that happened,” she said of Swaita’s alleged attendance at the protests.
“We were receiving very confidential information and as a member of the police services board, I really feel he had a duty and an obligation to the board to disclose that he was supporting that protest.”

The OPSB consists of seven members, three are city council members, one is appointed by the city council to sit on the board as a member of the community, and three are appointed by the provincial government. Swaita was appointed to the board by the Ford government on March 5, 2020 for a three-year term.

After a police service board shakeup which saw the city council oust Diane Deans from her position as chair of the board and resulted in the resignation of the two other councillours on the board and the city’s appointee, the only police board members who remained from before the protest were the provincial appointees: Swaita, Daljit Nirman and Beverly Johnson.

Swaita owns a restaurant in Ottawa and before sitting on the police board he ran unsuccessfully against Deans for the council seat in Gloucester-Southgate.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...convoy-protest

[rocketphish]

Ontario replacing three Ottawa police board members after one attended 'Freedom Convoy' protest

Colton Praill, Josh Pringle, CTV News Ottawa
Updated March 2, 2022 6:27 p.m. EST | Published March 2, 2022 4:09 p.m. EST

The Ontario government is replacing three members of the Ottawa Police Services Board after one of the provincial appointees attended the "Freedom Convoy" demonstration.

Sources confirm to CTV News Ottawa that Robert Swaita, one of three provincial government appointees to the police oversight board, attended the protest against COVID-19 public health measures. QP Briefing first reported Swaita attended the rally a few days after it arrived in Ottawa the weekend of Jan. 28.

When contacted by CTV News Ottawa Wednesday afternoon, Swaita declined to comment on whether or not he attended the Freedom Convoy protests or if his restaurant, KS on the Keys, donated food to the truckers. Swaita also would not comment on whether or not he believes he should resign from his role on the Ottawa Police Services Board.

Swaita did not deny any of the allegations against him.

Early Wednesday evening, the Office of the Solicitor General says the three provincial-appointees have resigned, and new board members will be appointed in the coming days.

"We have been working with the City of Ottawa to support a governance transition of the Ottawa Police Services Board. It is important that the people of Ottawa have confidence in their police governance, and this will bring fresh perspectives as the Board addresses recent events," said the statement from the Office of the Solicitor General.

"Consistent with the city council’s decision to introduce new leadership and after accepting the resignation of provincial appointees, we are moving forward to appoint three new provincial members. We will have more to share in the coming days."

Swaita was appointed to the Ottawa Police Services Board in March 2020 for a three-year term. He ran for councillor in the riding of Gloucester-Southgate in the 2018 election, coming in second to Coun. Diane Deans.

The two other provincial appointees were Daljit Nirman and Bev Johnson.

Ontario's opposition members and the former chair of the Ottawa Police Services Board had called on Swaita to resign or be removed from the board on Wednesday.

Deans and former board member Sandy Smallwood said they were shocked Swaita didn't disclose to the board he attended the protests, especially given the confidential policing intelligence he had access to as a member of the board.

"I think it’s very problematic, especially because he was privy to in-camera, confidential information in his role as a board member," Deans said. Council voted last month to remove Deans from the board.

"It was not disclosed to the board and information was being shared freely in-camera with members of the board so I think that’s highly problematic."

Smallwood, who resigned from the police services board two weeks ago, says any member of the board should disclose if they're supportive of events such as the "Freedom Convoy."

"It would be extremely important for the member who participated to condemn the activities that were being carried on." Smallwood said.

Earlier in the day, Ottawa Vanier MPP Lucille Collard called on Premier Doug Ford and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones to ask Swaita to step down.

Collard says news that a member of the Ottawa Police Services Board attended the protest that blocked streets for three weeks is an "additional cold shower on the confidence" the citizens of Ottawa have in the service.

"That’s very concerning, especially from somebody that’s occupying a role on the Police Services Board because in these instances, appearance of bias is just as important because we’re talking about the confidence of the public here in the police services," Collard said.

Ottawa Centre MPP Joel Harden also called on Ford to remove Swaita from the board.

“It’s disturbing to learn that a Ford government-appointed member of the Ottawa Police Services Board participated in the convoy in the national capital," Harden said.

"This just adds insult to injury for the people of Ottawa, who are still picking up the pieces after a weeks-long occupation that wreaked havoc on their lives. Only Doug Ford has the power to cancel Swaita’s appointment, and Mr. Ford must do that immediately."

Ottawa Police Services Board chair Eli El-Chantiry told CTV News Ottawa Wednesday afternoon that the board would meet later this week to discuss the situation involving Swaita.

"The Board was made aware of an article this afternoon alleging Board Member Swaita’s participation in recent protests near Parliament Hill rallying against COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The Board will be meeting later this week to review the article and the allegations," El-Chantiry said.

The Mayor's Office said Jim Watson was not aware that Swaita attended the protest.

"While these allegations are concerning, Mayor Watson is not aware of any confirmation that Mr. Swaita participated in the protest. The matter has been referred to the OPSB for review," a spokesperson for Watson said.

https://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/ontario-re...test-1.5802907

[rocketphish]

Ottawa interim police chief vows 'systemic change' in wake of convoy protest

Laura Osman, The Canadian Press
Publishing date: Mar 07, 2022 • 43 minutes ago • 2 minute read

Ottawa’s interim police chief Steve Bell promised Monday to rebuild the community’s trust in the municipal force following the protest that filled the capital’s streets with honking, diesel fumes and roadblocks for more than three weeks.

Protesters moved in with big-rigs and other vehicles in late January to protest the federal Liberal government, vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions.

Ottawa police faced widespread criticism for failing to remove the protesters or enforce city bylaws, and allowing the streets of downtown to succumb to what many officials described as a state of lawlessness.

In the midst of the turmoil, Police Chief Peter Sloly resigned, the chair of the police oversight board was removed and several other members left in solidarity.

“This past month, the people of Ottawa have faced immense disruptions, fear, and uncertainty due to the illegal protests in our city,” Bell said in a written statement Monday.

“It is natural that questions are asked about the direction of the Ottawa Police, and it is important that we respond to those questions directly.”

Bell said the service will continue internal investigations into inappropriate police conduct related to the illegal protests, and will develop a use-of-force review committee.

“We are and will remain an organization focused on cultural and systemic change,” he said in the statement.

Bell said the service would continue to build partnerships with marginalized, Indigenous, Black, faith-based, racialized and LGBTQ communities, and address the change those communities demand.

“We care about the community and want to be the police service this community deserves,” he said.

One of the convoy’s principal organizers, Tamara Lich, is expected to find out Monday afternoon whether she will have to remain in jail while she waits to answer to charges related to the protest.

Lich was denied bail on Feb. 22 after Ontario Court Justice Julie Bourgeois deemed her detention was “necessary for the protection and safety of the public.”

Lich’s lawyer launched a bail review on the grounds that Bourgeois decision may have been tainted by the fact that she ran as a federal Liberal candidates in the 2011 election and expressed that her own community had been impacted by the protest.

Lich has been described as the public face of the protest. One of the lawyers assisting the demonstrators called Lich “the spark that lit this fire and the leader of this organization” at a news conference less than one week into the Ottawa protest.

Her supporters say she is a political prisoner and over the weekend some rallied outside the Ottawa jail where she is being held to demand her release.

The prolonged demonstration in Ottawa sparked similar blockades at major boarder crossings across the country, and the lasting reverberations are still being felt around the world.

As Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived at 10 Downing Street in London to meet with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Monday about the crisis in Ukraine, he was met with a chorus of expletives.

British protesters called for Lich’s release and repeated the same curse words aimed at Trudeau that protesters in Ottawa chanted weeks earlier.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2022.

https://ottawacitizen.com/pmn/news-p...9-1c6e302436b4

[J.OT13]

Bell was part of the leadership that failed to act during those first 3 weeks. He should get the boot as well.

[rocketphish]

Interim Ottawa police chief considering action against officers who allegedly supported 'Freedom Convoy'

Matthew Lapierre, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Mar 07, 2022 • 17 hours ago • 3 minute read

Ottawa’s interim police chief, Steve Bell, said Monday the service was investigating the possibility that local officers may have supported and helped the “Freedom Convoy” protesters and would consider “all possible range of discipline” for those who did.

“These are serious allegations,” Bell said. “If they are proven to be substantiated we’ll look at appropriate discipline in those circumstances.”

Appropriate discipline could include dismissal.

“We’re bound by the Police Services Act and we’re bound by case law that exists around it,” Bell said. “(But) if somebody was helping to support the unlawful demonstrators in our streets that had such traumatic and terrible consequences on our population and was deemed to be illegal, I’ll seriously question their ability to deliver community safety and wellbeing in this city moving ahead.”

Several data breaches targetting the Christian crowdfunding website GiveSendGo in February revealed the names of more than 100,000 donors who raised millions for the “Freedom Convoy 2022” and “Adopt a Trucker” campaigns. Ottawa police officers were among them, according to reports from the CBC and the Toronto Star.

“The police are a reflection of society’s attitudes,” said Michael Kempa, a University of Ottawa criminology professor who studies police. “They’re obviously made up of people from society so if you have far-right political views in some ‘N’ number in society then you’re going to have some of them in the police, and anti-vax mandate views in the police, because they exist in society.”

The question that remains, Kempa added, is whether there was enough police support for the convoy protesters to have impacted the overall response by the OPS, who, in the initial weeks of the occupation were accused of allowing the demonstrators to continue blocking streets and transporting fuel downtown.

“Is it large enough that it actually caused a problem?” Kempa asked in a recent interview, “Or are the small number of donors and sort of weird videos that we saw of police high-fiving, hugging protesters, dancing tangos, and all these weird things, just the outliers?”

Matt Skof, president of the Ottawa Police Association, the union that represents most Ottawa police officers, rejected the inference that officers were ignoring or disobeying orders because they supported the convoy protesters. They were, rather, awaiting direction which hadn’t come.

He said fundraising lists showing those who donated to the “Freedom Convoy” were only relevant if the donators were in senior leadership positions making decisions about how to police the protests.

“The OPA has not seen, nor been advised of, any names of the OPS senior leadership, on that list, who were in a command position to provide lawful orders that were awaited by officers on the front line,” he said in a statement.

Some police officers oppose mandatory vaccinations and health measures, believing them to be an unjustified infringement on freedom, but feel afraid to speak out for fear of losing their jobs, according to Clay Farnsworth, a member of the administrative team for Police on Guard, an organization of current and former police officers who oppose public health measures.

“Police on Guard has excellent support from active duty members,” Farnsworth told this newspaper by email earlier this year. “The identities of active-duty members are protected for fear of punitive actions taken by their organizations for speaking against the current provincial mandates. We have had a huge uptake in active members joining since the Federal Government announced mandatory vaccinations.”

The Police on Guard website lists several former OPS officers as members.

To Bell, there is a sharp divide between holding private opinions about vaccine mandates and actively supporting protesters who were engaging in illegal behaviour.

“You can have a difference of opinion,” he said, “but what you can’t do, you can’t come and take over a large set of streets, terrorize entire populations, engage in activities that result in either criminal investigations or hate-related investigations in our streets, and as a member of our police service, as a member of any police service, you actually can’t support those people to do that. It has nothing to do with the dialogue and has everything to do with supporting the unlawful activity that can’t be condoned or accepted in a policing environment.”

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...freedom-convoy

[J.OT13]

Appropriate discipline = suspended with pay = vacation.

We have numerous examples of police officers breaking the law and getting off scott free. This won't be any different.

So much BS in that article. Skoff saying "only relevant if the donators were in senior leadership positions making decisions about how to police the protests." Well isn't that convenient that only officers not in the union are responsible. Or his other brainless quote "They were, rather, awaiting direction which hadn’t come." IT'S THEIR JOB to uphold the law. I know what my job is and I do it. I don't sit on my ass everyday waiting for my boss to tell me what I need to do. I just do it, cause it's my job.

[passwordisnt123]

Originally Posted by J.OT13

Appropriate discipline = suspended with pay = vacation.

We have numerous examples of police officers breaking the law and getting off scott free. This won't be any different.

So much BS in that article. Skoff saying "only relevant if the donators were in senior leadership positions making decisions about how to police the protests." Well isn't that convenient that only officers not in the union are responsible. Or his other brainless quote "They were, rather, awaiting direction which hadn’t come." IT'S THEIR JOB to uphold the law. I know what my job is and I do it. I don't sit on my ass everyday waiting for my boss to tell me what I need to do. I just do it, cause it's my job.

Totally agree. They're trying to save their hides at this point because they know people are furious. The usual slap on the wrist isn't going to cut it this time.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by passwordisnt123

Totally agree. They're trying to save their hides at this point because they know people are furious. The usual slap on the wrist isn't going to cut it this time.

Sexual harassment, assault meh. Donating to a then semi-legal protest firing offence. We really have gone off the deep end on this one.

[rocketphish]

Former Ottawa police exec sues for $2.7M, and airs some dirty laundry
Lawsuit yet another blow to Ottawa Police Services Board in an already tumultuous year

Kristy Nease · CBC News
Posted: Mar 09, 2022 1:19 PM ET | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

A former Ottawa police civilian executive is suing his former employer for upwards of $2.7 million, claiming he was unfairly dismissed last year after an anonymous email alleged he wasn't paying taxes on a take-home vehicle.

In the lawsuit, former chief administrative officer Jeff Letourneau alleges he was offered a vehicle at the start of a new job at the force, and used it transparently during a later contract dispute about the vehicle.

The document casts a shadow on the inner workings of the police force, mentioning a now-retired inspector's alleged medical leave and harassment complaint following a clash with then chief of police Peter Sloly (who resigned last month amid accusations of bullying and volatile behaviour).

And Letourneau suggests his dismissal was at least partially motivated by the friendship between then police board chair Coun. Diane Deans and a now-retired police inspector, whom Letourneau had sour dealings with. He also insinuates that inspector could have been the source of the anonymous email that led to his termination.

The suit comes on the heels of a tumultuous start to the year for the Ottawa Police Services Board. In the past two months a deputy chief resigned while suspended on allegations of sexual assault; Sloly resigned from the force over the handling of a weeks-long protest blocking downtown streets in the shadow of Parliament Hill; Deans was ousted as chair of the board in the middle of the internationally watched crisis for efforts to replace Sloly; and most of the board's members resigned in protest or amid scandal.

Letourneau was terminated from his position after a unanimous decision by the police board in April 2021, which followed the anonymous email sent to Ottawa's mayor and city councillors a few weeks earlier.

The email raised questions about taxes Letourneau had paid in recent years compared to other senior Ottawa police members with take-home vehicles.

Days after the anonymous email, Ottawa police union president Matt Skof wrote a letter to the police board chair, mayor and police chief, saying he'd been made aware of the anonymous complaint, looked into its claims, and wanted a formal investigation to be done.

Using information from Ontario's Sunshine List, Skof noted Letourneau earned more than $242,000 as the chief administrative officer with a service vehicle in 2020, and reported only $1,060 in taxable benefits. But his predecessor, who earned roughly the same and also used a service vehicle, reported more than $12,000 in taxable benefits in 2018.

In Letourneau's statement of claim against the police board, filed in Ontario Superior Court on Feb. 23, he alleges he was offered a new service vehicle when he was appointed acting director general in March 2019 under former chief Charles Bordeleau. He declined the offer to save the force some money, the claim states, and instead suggested taking over his predecessor's service vehicle when she retired, which he did.

That summer, Letourneau was hired as chief administrative officer — the same job as director general but with a new title — and was presented a contract for a fixed five-year term. Instead of a take-home vehicle, benefits in the contract included $575 a month for expenses incurred using a personal vehicle for work.

Letourneau disagreed with the allowance and wanted to continue using his predecessor's take-home vehicle, but the claim states he signed the contract anyway to meet the board's timeline for announcing his hire.

The claim alleges Letourneau "expressed his expectation that the service vehicle issue would be subject to further negotiations."

Discussions in the fall with the police board provided no resolution, however, and in December he wrote to then police chief Sloly who said he'd bring up the matter with the board, according to the claim.

That same month, the city's payroll manager contacted Letourneau about his taxable benefits. Letourneau advised that his contract was still under review, and the claim alleges the manager proposed to defer the taxable vehicle benefit to the following year, pending a resolution.

In January 2020, chief Sloly told Letourneau to put off discussing the vehicle issue due to workload, the claim states. Letourneau planned to bring it up in his 2020 performance review, according to the claim, but no such review occurred prior to his termination in April 2021.

Meanwhile, the board wasn't paying Letourneau's contracted salary or monthly vehicle allowance — he was continuing to openly use his predecessor's vehicle — and he didn't receive an executed contract from the board, according to the claim.

In early April 2021, then board chair Deans sent Letourneau the anonymous email questioning the taxable benefits on his take-home vehicle. Letourneau offered to meet with Deans, according to the claim, but Deans declined, and asked instead that he stop using the vehicle and respond to the allegations in writing.

In his reply days later, Letourneau confirmed he'd been using the vehicle during the contract dispute and he'd returned it the day Deans wrote to him, according to the claim.

"Mr. Letourneau explained that his use of the service vehicle had been open, transparent, and consistent with his understanding that there were unresolved issues relating to the terms and conditions of his employment," the claim states.

Later that month, Deans and the city's human resources director called to say he'd been terminated for unauthorized use of a service vehicle and for failing to disclose a taxable benefit on that vehicle.

The statement of claim alleges no investigation had been done, Letourneau hadn't been formally or informally disciplined, and that he hadn't received a verbal or written warning prior to his termination.

The claim also alleges the board dismissed Letourneau "at least in part, in retaliation" following a dispute with then Ottawa police Insp. Pat Flanagan (who retired in May 2021 and is a member of a prominent policing family in the city).

After an alleged "disagreement" between Flanagan and then chief Sloly in a meeting sometime around October 2020 — which resulted in Flanagan taking medical leave and filing a harassment complaint against Sloly, according to the claim — Sloly asked Letourneau to manage Flanagan, the claim states.

Letourneau repeatedly tried reaching out to see that Flanagan's own service vehicle was returned to the force, and to obtain documents for the medical leave, according to the claim.

Deans then called Letourneau around December 2020 to say Flanagan had agreed to retire in January 2021 if Sloly agreed to certain terms, which were not specified in the statement of claim. Letourneau replied that some of the terms would conflict with the collective agreement, and the police union would have to agree to them.

The claim states Deans asked Letourneau to handle it and no longer involve her.

Meanwhile, efforts to obtain Flanagan's take-home vehicle continued, and the claim alleges the situation came to a head around February 2021, when "Flanagan threatened to 'take [Mr. Letourneau] down'" in a conversation with Supt. Joan McKenna.

Flanagan "further advised that he 'knew about [Letourneau's] vehicle issue and would take it to the Board unless [Mr. Letourneau] backed off,'" the claim alleges.

The next month, the anonymous email about Letourneau's take-home vehicle and taxable benefits was sent to the mayor and city council, requesting an investigation.

None of the allegations in Letourneau's claim has been tested in court.

In text messages to CBC News, Flanagan denied the claim's allegation that he threatened Letourneau and the insinuation that he wrote an email about him.

"I will state that at no point did I ever threaten to 'take down' Jeff Letourneau. Nor did I ever provide the office of the mayor with any correspondence — email or otherwise, on any subject matter related to Jeff Letourneau," the texts read.

"He's barking up the wrong tree!"

Flanagan declined to clarify matters further.

Reached by phone, one of Letourneau's lawyers, Janice Payne, said she and her client have no other comment to make.

Deans also declined to comment, her office wrote in an email.

Police board chair Eli El-Chantiry wrote in an email that he can't comment on ongoing litigation.

Lawyers for the Ottawa Police Services Board have filed a notice of intent to defend.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...oard-1.6375780

[J.OT13]

While we continue to pour millions into the disaster that is OPS, the paramedic service continues to struggle providing required service levels:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...data-1.6378362

The City has put in some money to hire a few more paramedics and buy ambulances (though hard to tell how much will be additional resources and how much is replacing retired paramedics and older vehicles):

https://ottawa.ca/en/news/committee-...support%20them.

[rocketphish]

What does the City of Ottawa need in its next police chief?
The results from multiple investigations following the "Freedom Convoy" occupation will inform the police services board's approach.

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Mar 14, 2022 • 1 hour ago • 6 minute read

The time will soon come when the revamped Ottawa Police Services Board needs to figure out what to do about hiring a permanent police chief, only three years after the last board launched a national search for a top cop.

While hiring a chief will be a primary concern for the police board, the urgency could be tempered by multiple investigations following the “Freedom Convoy” occupation. The results will inform the board’s approach as it decides where to look for a new chief.

Until then, police board members will have to mull over what they believe the City of Ottawa needs in a new chief and if it’s any different from the traits shared by the public during the hiring process that led them to Peter Sloly, who resigned during the occupation.

Sloly was positioned as a change chief, an outside leader with experience in policing Canada’s largest city geographically, who would put a progressive lens over the Ottawa Police Service and build bridges with diverse communities.

It wasn’t easy, and many don’t believe it won’t be any easier after the occupation.

Mandi Pekan says there’s no hope in finding a new police chief who can fix what ails the policing institution.

Pekan is director of the Street Resilience Project, a community initiative that has been researching experiences of young Black and racialized men in Ottawa for three years. She says much of the project’s work centres on the men’s interactions with police.

“This time around, there are no expectations,” Pekan said when asked about what Ottawa needed in a new police chief.

“We did have a glimpse of hope in 2019, when Chief Sloly was sworn in as our first Black chief with progressive ideas. Part of that was he was going to mend the relationship with the community and the police. The question isn’t really about what the community expects from the next chief. We expect nothing.”

Pekan says it’s not that Sloly failed as chief, “it’s that the institution of policing is a failure by design.”

In June 2019, the police board gave a headhunting firm marching orders to find applicants whose leadership qualities aligned with a dozen themes suggested during consultations, before Sloly’s appointment was announced in August of that year.

The sought-after qualities included strengthening the chief’s relationship with front-line officers, partnering with community organizations, building bridges with racial, economic and cultural groups and reassessing how policing services were delivered. “Culture change” became a recommended deliverable.

Three years later, the list of qualities holds up. There continues to be a strong desire by several community groups — the police board hears from deputations at every meeting — to change the nature of police work and reduce the police budget.

A chief’s relationship with rank-and-file cops, another requirement voiced during the consultations, was also a must-have leadership attribute.

The police force needs to keep building trust, both with marginalized communities that have been demanding changes in police culture and now with the broader citizenry, including local politicians, still confused about why “Freedom Convoy” occupiers were allowed to take over downtown Ottawa for weeks.

Jeff Leiper, city councillor for Kitchissippi ward, is the newest member of the police board, with no prior experience in direct police governance during his time on council. While he has been tasked with considering police budgets in his elected years, he brings fresh eyes to the hiring process for a new chief.

Leiper — who shared his personal opinion on the matter since only the chair can speak for the police board under its rules — said city council had indicated it wouldn’t accept police requests for big budget increases and that it would rather see cost savings directed to alternative responses to mental health crises.

“That’s the direction which I would like us to continue to head, but we have a provincial election and a municipal election, so it remains to be seen whether that thrust is going to continue,” Leiper said.

But, if change is inevitable, Ottawa police will need a chief who can accomplish the goals in harmony with the members of the police force, Leiper said.

“The most important skill I think the next chief will bring is that political acumen to be able to work with the different stakeholders on whatever agenda residents of Ottawa want to see them pursue,” Leiper said.

Coming out of the occupation, a “mistrust will probably dog the chief,” even if the job is filled by an external candidate, Leiper said.

Leiper said it would be a mistake for the police board to enter a hiring process without first consulting the public. There’s no urgency to find a permanent chief and the board should give consideration to the municipal election in October since the public will have thoughts on the future of policing during the campaign, Leiper said.

The OPS community equity council would likely be high up on the consultation list.

Heidi Langille, a longtime advocate for Inuit in Ottawa, is the Indigenous relations committee co-chair of the equity council. The next permanent chief needs to understand and care about the concerns of Ottawa’s diverse community and advance Sloly’s work to build relationships, Langille said.

Langille says the new chief will need to address systemic problems in policing while not disregarding work already done.

“I don’t want someone who’s going to reinvent the wheel,” Langille said. “I don’t want someone who thinks they’re coming in to save our city. We don’t need a saviour. We need someone who’s willing to collaborate and build on the strengths that are already there.”

Langille gave high praise to Steve Bell, the deputy chief who’s the interim chief, for being engaged with the equity council and trying to make changes recommended by the advisory group.

It will be a tricky time for a new chief as the residents learn more about policing decisions during the occupation, Langille said.

“They have seen how Indigenous folks are treated during protests and how racialized folks are treated during protests, and they’ve seen how non-racialized and non-Indigenous people are treated during protests,” Langille said.

“It’s going to be tough. It’s going to be hard work. But I’m looking for someone who’s not afraid of hard work.”

Heidi Illingworth, executive director of Ottawa Victim Services, says the next police chief must keep domestic violence at the top of the priority list and foster an approach that’s trauma-informed and victim-centred.

“We’re definitely looking for someone who prioritizes violence against women, and I know that the last few chiefs have. I hope that will continue,” Illingworth said, adding there had been a spike in violence happening in homes across Ottawa during the pandemic.

“Our agency has been working really hard throughout the pandemic to try to serve women and children affected by the violence and abuse that’s been going on inside homes,” Illingworth said.

“We know that we really need to do a better job when it comes to gender and diversity-sensitive responses to domestic violence and partner violence. Most people don’t go to the police. They don’t report. We need a chief that’s going to take that seriously and try to create a police service that the community trusts.”

For now, the police board will have to file the feedback until it has enough members to make decisions. As of Friday, the board still couldn’t legally do business because it only had three of seven seats filled.

Pekan says a permanent police chief shouldn’t be hired until there’s an independent inquiry into the Ottawa Police Service, the police board and their handling of the occupation.

“I don’t think it matters who we bring in and what commitment the next chief has and whether they have good intentions or whether their hearts are in the right place,” Pekan said.

“I’m sure that Chief Sloly had that at the beginning. But the chief cannot be in all places at once. The police institution will never allow change to happen.”

[email protected]
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...t-police-chief

[rocketphish]

Ottawa city council calls for new policing model in Canada's capital
Occupation of downtown core sparks conversation about changing current policing plan

Joanne Chianello, Kate Porter · CBC News
Posted: Mar 23, 2022 5:54 PM ET | Last Updated: 23 minutes ago

A month after the so-called Freedom Convoy was cleared out of downtown Ottawa, city council is pressing the federal government for a new model of policing for the core of the nation's capital.

At its first in-person meeting in more than two years Wednesday, city council passed two motions asking for the federal government to enter serious talks about the future security of the city's downtown and the parliamentary precinct.

"I think [both motions] are looking for ways on how we can better co-ordinate our responses to serious situations, and do a much better job of intelligence gathering before something like another truck convoy comes back and takes over our city and does so much harm," Mayor Jim Watson told reporters after the meeting.

A few reviews have already been set in motion to look at how the protests were able to grip the downtown for four weeks, and how a possible lack of co-ordination between the Ottawa Police Service, Ontario Provincial Police and the RCMP delayed an end to the protests.

Earlier this month, city manager Steve Kanellakos told council there's no formal process for senior bureaucrats at various levels of government to speak with each other when an emergency arises in the capital. Kanellakos called it a "big gap" that players in the capital only come together in an ad hoc manner.

Ottawa city council, and two local MPs, have also already asked the federal government to make Wellington Street part of the parliamentary precinct.

The section of Wellington Street that runs on the south side of Parliament Hill, between Bank and Elgin streets, remains closed with no set date to reopen it.

The National Capital Region has long struggled with its jurisdictional layers, and Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury said it's time to clarify those roles and modernize the oversight.

His motion called on the federal government to form a working group of officials from the Ontario and Quebec governments, the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau, the National Capital Commission, the federal public works department, and Indigenous elders.

Local residents and businesses shouldn't have to bear the financial burden of events that are national in scope, Fleury adds.

Innes ward Coun. Laura Dudas also argued the jurisdictional obstacles need to be solved "once and for all."

She tabled a motion that goes even further, petitioning the federal government to enter into "formal discussions" with the two provincial governments and two municipal governments for a completely new policing model for the capital.

Her motion points to Washington, D.C., as an example of "concurrent jurisdiction" where a number of policing agencies work together to oversee 200 blocks around the United States Capitol building.

Dudas said the federal government could look at other jurisdictions for ideas, as well, "but they just need to choose to do something."

Both motions were passed unanimously.

In a more practical move on the policing file, council also appointed council's newest member, Kanata North's Cathy Curry, to the Ottawa Police Services Board.

Police governance has been chaotic in the past two months after Peter Sloly stepped down as chief in the middle of the convoy crisis, and council removed Coun. Diane Deans as board chair. Three other members resigned at the time.

Council named three people to the board last month, while one spot remained vacant.
Then earlier this month, all three provincial appointees to the board stepped down after it was revealed one had attended the protest. That left the board with only three members — and the board couldn't meet with so few members.

Curry, the only council member to express interest in the role, said she has a keen interest in governance as she sits on a number of boards.

"I often say nobody cares about governance until they do," Curry told CBC News. "When we had the convoy, it was pretty clear that governance really matters. So I think I can bring that to the police board."

Curry said she agreed with where the Ottawa police had been headed in terms of "progressive policing," and wants to reassure the community she's still committed to that model. She said there needs to be "extensive consultation" with the public before hiring a new police chief.

The next police board meeting is scheduled for Monday and it is set to take place in person.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...nvoy-1.6395233

[rocketphish]

Province names three new appointees to Ottawa Police Services Board
Salim Fakirani, Peter Henschel and Michael Doucet will replace previous appointees who had resigned.

Joanne Laucius, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Mar 25, 2022 • 31 minutes ago • 4 minute read

The Solicitor General’s office has announced three new provincial appointments to the Ottawa Police Services Board — a Justice Department lawyer, a retired senior Mountie and a cybersecurity expert.

The board, a seven-member civilian body that oversees the Ottawa Police Service, is responsible for setting the objectives and priorities for police services.

The board will be meeting in person for the first time since the pandemic began on Monday. Among the items on the agenda will be spending almost$100,000 to hire an outside firm to help search for a new chief following the resignation of former chief Peter Sloly in the midst of a disruptive downtown occupation by protesters.

“We have consulted with the City of Ottawa and have selected top notch, highly qualified leaders that bring the necessary expertise to help steer the Ottawa Police Service forward,” the office of Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said in a statement released Friday.

The three appointees include:

• Salim Fakirani, a lawyer with a master’s degree in international affairs who is senior counsel with the Federal Department of Justice

Fakirani served as legal counsel at the Canadian Human Rights Commission, where he worked on several complex human rights discrimination cases, including race and gender-based complaints. He has also worked with the Youth Justice and Strategic Initiatives Section in Department of Justice Canada.the section works on initiatives, including the regulation of legal access to cannabis.

• Peter Henschel, a former deputy commissioner for specialized policing services with the RCMP with a 36-year policing career.

Henschel was responsible for the leadership, strategic direction and national delivery of a broad range of critical policing services, including National Police Services, a suite of specialized services delivered to the broader Canadian law enforcement community and Criminal Justice System. During his tenure, he transformed the governance and service delivery of National Police Services and oversaw the development of the RCMP‘s first Cybercrime Strategy.

During his time with the RCMP, Hershel was a member of the senior executive committee overseeing operations across Canada, as well as the officer responsible for protective pperations for the National Capital Region. He is a distinguished fellow with the Canada School of Public Service, and is active on several boards and advisory committees, including charities and not-for-profits.

• Michael Doucet has served as executive director of the Security Intelligence Review Committee, now known as National Security and Intelligence Review Agency. The committee independently reviews the Canadian Security Intelligence Service on operations and complaints accountable to the Canadian Parliament in matters of Canadian national security.

Doucet was the chief technology officer and then chief information officer for the RCMP. He was also the CIO/director general of the Information Management Services Branch at Correctional Service Canada and worked with the Communications Security Establishment of Canada, where he represented Canada as CSEC’s senior cryptologic liaison officer to the National Security Agency in the United States.

Doucet is currently an executive director at Optiv, a cybersecurity firm.

The past two months have been a tumultuous time for the Police Services Board, which responsible for hiring and monitoring the performance of the police chief and approving the annual police budget.

City council voted last month to remove board chair Diane Deans after a failed attempt to hire an interim chief following Sloly’s resignation. The board’s vice-chair, Sandy Smallwood, and councillors Carol Anne Meehan and Rawlson King resigned in protest.

Coun. Eli El-Chantiry was named the new chair, and councillors Jeff Leiper and Cathy Curry and non-council member Suzanne Valiquet have been appointed to the board.

The province announced on March 2 that it was removing all three of its appointees to the board, which requires a quorum of four, following a report that one member allegedly attended the “Freedom Convoy” protests.

Darryl Davies, a professor of criminology at Carleton University and longtime critic of Ontario;s police boards, said appointing three such qualified people to the board was a move in the right direction.

“it’s a good step. Finally. They’re doing what they should have done in all police service boards in Ontario,” he said.

“They will have to make decisions. Some will not be popular. But they are qualified to make those decisions.”

Transparency, independence and public confidence are important, Davies said. “The biggest problem has always been that the structure of the boards was inherently flawed.”

Davies argues that all police boards members should have experience or knowledge of policing and criminal justice issues. But police services boards should not be stacked with police officers, he said.

“You don’t want police officers investigating police officers.”

Davies also argues that police board chairs should be provincial appointees, and would like to see the matter addressed in provincial legislation.

“We have full confidence in our appointees, who are committed to the principles and values of public service, and will work in collaboratively to appoint a new, permanent chief of the Ottawa Police Service,” Jones said in a statement.

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local...services-board

[Admiral Nelson]

Originally Posted by rocketphish

Province names three new appointees to Ottawa Police Services Board

I'm glad to see the province has elevated its qualification standard for the PSB above 'restaurant owner Doug Ford supporter'. These folks presumably wouldn't have attended the convoy protest and trolled the PSB meetings with rude/asinine questions.