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D/C S. Bell, Supt J.
McKenna and Insp K. Bryden updated the Board on the current and future
strategies for Community Policing in Ottawa. (A copy of the presentation
is kept on file with the Board’s Executive Director.)
Following the
presentation, the subsequent points of clarification were made:
·
The OPS never abandoned community policing.
They continued to have the infrastructure to deliver community policing,
however, the community did not see the same level of service in terms of low
level crime and social disorder. The new model took away the contact point
that the community had previously with their individual community officers.
The OPS is looking to enhance that capacity again so they can be more
responsive.
·
The new Community Response Team (twenty
officers over two years) dedicated to community policing will be able to
address identified problems. This model will not be geographically based;
they will be directed into neighbourhoods where issues have been identified
and work to resolve them. As the capacity of this team is being built they
will be doing a host of different things which will largely depend on what
problem is being addressed. Through the Operations Centre, officers will be
directed to the highest priority problems in to resolve the issues.
·
Community Police Officers will remain in the
community exactly as they are now. They will feed information to the Operations
Centre and members of the Community Response Team will be dispatched.
·
There were some challenges with the online
reporting and updates have been made. Taking into account the concerns
expressed by the community regarding the time it takes to report an incident,
each time it happens, staff will review what else can be done to improve the
system and make it simpler.
·
The OPS targets school zones as they are recognized
as a community safety concern. Maps have been distributed to Councillors
indicating where the OPS have received complaints, where accidents have
occurred and where officers have done enforcement.
·
A Community Policing Forum will be held on 13
May 2019, where the community will come forward and with the OPS mutually
define what community policing is.
·
The OPS is aware how important it is to be
visible within high density communities. A process has begun where officers
are speaking with business to work together towards safety solutions.
·
Traffic is a key concern in many areas. The Community
Response Team will not deal with traffic concerns, the Traffic Unit will
continue to do so.
·
The Frontline Mobility Project is part of the
Modernization Roadmap. Officers on Beats and Bikes are being used as a pilot
with hand held devices similar to front line officers. Phones will be rolled
out by the end of Q2 of this year to all of the frontline. The actual
software is being tested for 90 days before the roll out. The handheld
devices will have features such as phone, texting, email, scheduling, and
various other additions. Wiki based solutions will be accessible to solve a
specific problem as well as Intranet information. Once security issues have
been resolved, the handhelds will do the same work as the mobile computers.
·
PIVOT stands for Prevention and Intervention
of Violence in Ottawa.
·
This Board is very interested in seeing
geographical based community police officers with boots on the ground in the
community.
That the Ottawa
Police Services Board receive this presentation for information.
RECEIVED
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