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REPORT RAPPORT |
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REPORT RAPPORT |
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DATE:
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21 November 2011 |
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TO:
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Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board |
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FROM:
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Chief of Police, Ottawa Police Service |
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SUBJECT: |
2010 ONTARIO MUNICIPAL BENCHMARKING INITIATIVE (OMBI) POLICE SERVICES
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The Ontario Municipal Benchmarking Initiative (OMBI) is a collaborative performance reporting effort among 14 municipalities across the Province, along with the Cities of Calgary and Winnipeg. The annual performance benchmarking report presents nearly 100 measures spanning 28 public services and describes some factors influencing the delivery of each service. An Ottawa Police representative participates on the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) Expert Panel which reviews submitted data for consistency and relevancy to the OMBI process. The OMBI 2010 Performance Benchmarking Report was officially released on 18 November 2011. The Report will be received by the City Finance and Economic Development Committee on 06 December and is to be tabled with Council on 14 December. The police-related performance measures are presented herein.
DISCUSSION
The OACP Panel identified a number of measures falling under community impact, service level, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. For police performance, seven measures are publicly released:
§ Number of Police Staff (Officers and Civilians) per 100,000 population is used to gauge police service levels based on authorized staffing. With 212 police staff/100,000 residents, Ottawa Police is marginally below the median rate of 215, placing Ottawa in the middle of the comparator group (range is 184 to 286). Of note, Ottawa Police set the median for the past two years;
§ Total Crime Rate – is the reported number of Criminal Code of Canada incidents (non-traffic) per 100,000 population[1]. Ottawa’s 2010 crime rate was 4,095, compared to the Ontario median of 5,095, maintaining the similar placement/trend over the past two years;
§ Crime Severity Index – is now incorporated within the OMBI measurement system. The CSI incorporates the impact/severity of differing types of crime, in conjunction with counts of criminal occurrences and crime rates (where the lower the index number, the more positive/relative safety of a community). The 2010 CSI for Canada is 83, while Ottawa’s CSI for 2010 fell to 61 from 68, nine index points below the provincial median (range is 38 to 113);
§ Violent Crime Rate – is generally the crime category of the most interest to residents and visitors and can provide an indication of community safety (although the perception and/or feeling of safety may differ from the statistical counts/rate). Reporting 600 violent criminal code incidents/100,000 population (down from 644 in 2009), Ottawa is still substantially below the 2010 provincial median rate of 992;
§ Violent Crime Severity Index – the Violent Severity Index includes all violent offences (homicide, attempted murder, assault, sexual assault, robbery, criminal harassment, uttering threats, forcible confinement/kidnapping), with Robbery having the largest influence on the Index. Ottawa’s 2010 VCSI is 69 (down from 80 in 2009), and is below the provincial median of 77;
§ Clearance Rate for Violent Crime – criminal incidents are considered cleared when a charge is laid or recommended, or when cleared by other means. A variety of factors impact the police’s ability to solve crimes against the person, including the public’s assistance in providing information. Clearance rates are reported in the year an incident is cleared, regardless of when a crime might have occurred. With a 65 percent clearance rate for violent crimes in 2010, Ottawa Police falls below the provincial median of 74 percent. Two other services fall below Ottawa (55% and 60%), while three services reported the highest clearance rate at 79 percent; and
§ Number of Criminal Code offences per Officer – provides an indication of workload, but does not fully capture the breadth of police activities such as traffic and drug enforcement, crime prevention activities, or assistance to victims. On average, Ottawa officers handled 27 CCC incidents each in 2010, below the Provincial median of 33. Four other services reported a rate lower than Ottawa’s.
The OMBI Police Expert Panel noted a number of influencing factors including, but not limited to, the number of non-residents (including visitors, college/university students), the presence of specialized facilities such as airports or casinos, locally-determined call response protocols, along with changes in local demographic, social and economic conditions. In Ottawa’s case, its role as the Nation`s Capital, its size (2,757 km2), and urban, suburban, and rural geography, along with the proximity to the City of Gatineau across the Ottawa River, makes it somewhat unique in Canada.
The following table summarizes how the Ottawa Police compares to the median of the OMBI-reporting municipal police services in Ontario. Because placement below or above the median can be positive or negative, the various measures have been grouped as either ‘favourable’ or ‘not favourable’, depending on the generally perceived desirability of placement on the respective measure.
Ottawa Police Compared to 2010 Provincial Median:
Publicly and Non-Publicly Reported Police Performance Measures
While there is room for improvement in some categories, the Ottawa Police generally compares favourably overall to the other OMBI-reporting police services in Ontario.
Similar to the OMBI reports presented to the Board since 2005, the 2010 report offers interested readers selected indicators and data with which to gauge Ottawa Police performance against a provincial median.
Ottawa Police representatives will continue to serve on the OACP/OMBI Police Expert Panel, the national Police Information and Statistics (POLIS) Committee, the Executive Development Program at the Canadian Police College, and other venues that contribute to the ongoing discussion, improvement, and transparency of police performance measures.
The Board will also continue to receive quarterly performance information updates as part of the performance measurement framework contained in the 2010-2012 Plan for a Safer Community.
Finally, the Ottawa Police will begin incorporating the Balanced Scorecard into its performance monitoring and reporting as the City implements the Scorecard in 2012.
(Original signed by)
Vern White
Chief of Police
This document contains information that reports on activities related to the Ottawa Police Business Plan.
[1] OMBI-reported crime rate will likely differ from that published by Statistics Canada due to different population figures used – more current municipal estimates versus census figures
