Chief’s Verbal – September 26,  2011

 

 

New Manager of Labour Relations

 

On August 30, 2011, Jennifer White assumed the duties as Manager of Labour Relations.  Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Ottawa Law School, and has spent the last 15 years in the labour relations field.  She spent 9 years as in-house counsel and HR Director for First Air, an Inuit owned arctic airline.

Most recently, Jennifer worked in the federal government for the Department of Justice, and then in the civilian oversight body for public complaints against the RCMP.

She is in the final stretch of completing her Masters in Law in Alternative Dispute Resolution at Osgoode Hall in Toronto.

 

New Director for Information Technology

 

I would also like to introduce you to our new Director of Information Technology, and Records, Mr. Lewis Cardin.  Mr. Cardin joined the OPS today and brings with him several years of experience as a Chief Information Officer, 3 years of Information Management Research, and 10 years of I.T. Consulting.

 

Visit by Chief Superintendent Aart Garssen – District Commander, City of Nijmegen, Netherlands

 

From September 19-26, OPS hosted a visit by Chief Superintendent Aart Garssen of the Netherlands. Chief Superintendent Garssen has over 28 years of police experience and is responsible for police and safety measures at major events. During his stay, Garssen had the opportunity to meet with me, Mayor Watson, PSB Chair El-Chantiry, a number of Senior Officers, Crown Attorney Vicki Baer, our Police Association President, and members of the media. He also participated in the Police Memorial this past Sunday, and is here tonight with us at the Board meeting. Chief Superintendent Garssen has also had opportunities to share his experience with our members on crowd management, crowd control and risk analysis. Chief Supt. Garssen’s experiences and results of his visit will be used for the future organization of a new national police force in the Netherlands.

 

Pharmacy Robberies

 

The Ottawa Police Service’s Robbery Unit continues to work hard with respect to the ongoing issue of pharmacy robberies.  This is a problem that is by no means unique to Ottawa.  On 8 September, the Services Special Operations Branch was working in collaboration with the Robbery Unit.  A suspect, believed responsible for a previous pharmacy robbery, was under surveillance by plain clothes officers.  The suspect was observed entering a west end grocery store and proceeding to the pharmacy.  On his exit, it was quickly established that the suspect had passed a note and committed a robbery at the pharmacy.  The suspect was arrested after a brief foot pursuit by the plain clothes officers.  The arrest resulted in the clearance of two pharmacy robberies and the investigation remains ongoing in an effort to solve others.  The Robbery Unit continues to work closely with security representatives from the various pharmacies. 

 

 

Retail Robberies

 

On 5 September, at 0215 hrs. uniform officers responded to a convenience store robbery along the 200 block of Parkdale Ave.  This same store had been held up days before, and had been the location of one of the summer’s flash mob incidents.  As officers responded to the scene, the potential suspects were observed by a plainclothes Sgt. who was in the area with other officers on an unrelated matter.  When the suspects became alerted to the Police presence, they fled on foot.  A perimeter was established by officers and a canine handler was called to the scene to assist in the search.  One suspect was located hiding in bushes on a residential property.  Though the second suspect was able to evade arrest at that time, he has since been identified.  The initial response and arrest, coupled with the follow-up investigation by the Robbery Unit, has resulted in the successful clearance of 4 retail robberies that all occurred in that neighborhood.    

 

All Valuables Removed

 

Led by spokesperson Sgt. Denis Hull in partnership with our Community Development, Corporate Communications, Media and Crime Analysis sections, we launched the “All Valuables Removed” campaign on July 26th and began issuing free “All Valuables Removed” warning cards to drivers to help raise awareness and combat theft from vehicles. In addition to incredible media awareness, Community Police Centres, community and city partners have helped raise awareness about this crime of opportunity and 15,000 free warning cards have been issued to drivers to date. We have also received interest and inquiries from police services internationally. 


South Australian Ministry & Police Delegation

 

On August 31, OPS hosted a delegation from South Australia which included South Australia’s Minister for Police as well as the Deputy Police Commissioner.  Presentations on Community Policing and Partnership Strategies, as well as volume crimes were made by Community Development, Central Division, Guns and Gangs, Youth Section, and crime prevention partner Crime Prevention Ottawa. 


Youth In Policing Initiative 2011

 

The Community Development summer student worked in partnership with our Youth in Policing Initiative (YIPI) to hold a bake sale at OPS headquarters in support of the Horn of Africa relief fund and awareness raising efforts. Together the youth raised $970 which was matched by the federal government. 

 

 

 


Peace Camp Ottawa

 

On Friday, July 22, 2011, members of Peace Camp Ottawa representing youth from three countries visited police headquarters as part of their week long intensive program designed to create understanding and build skills for peace building and conflict resolution.

 

The youth were also treated to a flag folding and unveiling ceremony led by Cst. Darwin Turner who showed the youth the proper way of folding a national flag in Canada. The group was able to fold the 3 flags of the represented countries in Peace Camp Ottawa, which were Canada, Palestine and Israel.

 

OPS Band Members – Andrew Hayes

 

Andrew participated in the World Championships in Inverness, Scotland on Sept 1, 2011. Andrew Hayes started the day with a win in the A-Grade MSR, and won the March Strathspey Reel solo piping, making him eligible throughout his life to compete in the Former Winners Silver Star MSR.

 

Project Yardwork

 

On July 26th a year long project dubbed “Project Yardwork” was concluded successfully.  This largely undercover project sought to investigate allegations of organized criminal activities alleged to include insurance fraud schemes, Ontario Disability Support fraud and illegal drug activities among others.  A series of search warrants were executed on the 26th of July and evidence supporting all of the aforementioned criminal activities was gathered.  This investigation resulted in 10 arrests and 47 criminal charges.