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REPORT

RAPPORT


 

DATE:

 

22 September 2014

TO/DEST:

 

Executive Director, Ottawa Police Services Board

FROM/EXP:

 

Chief of Police, Ottawa Police Service

SUBJECT/OBJET:

  PUBLIC CONSULTATION POLICY: ANNUAL REPORT

 

 

RECOMMENDATION

 

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this report for information.

 

BACKGROUND

 

The Public Consultation Policy 2014 Annual Report confirms that we continue to be on solid footing in our community engagement and mobilization efforts. We are well-positioned for the future, to the credit of Ottawa Police Service (OPS) members and our partners and stakeholders.

 

The efforts of OPS staff working with community members, partners, and stakeholders every day, in every community, allow the OPS to continue to deliver services in a prudent and responsible manner that residents expect and need. Excellent community relations have been strengthened as a result of sound engagement and consultation practices.

 

The Ottawa Police Services Board Public Consultation Policy CR-6 supports the Ottawa Police Service’s vision statement and is fundamental to acquiring public understanding and support for the actions of the Police Service and Police Services Board.

 

The goal of this report is to summarize approaches to public participation and community engagement with the public, our partners, and stakeholder organizations that have resulted in improved relations and outcomes. The OPS is determined to continue to be a leader in community engagement.

 

DISCUSSION

 

The OPS is committed to the philosophy of community policing and continue to use a combination of community engagement approaches that are significant to the complexity of our diverging communities.  Our engagement methods are founded on the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) model which defines various levels of community engagement as follows:

 

Inform, Consult, Involve, Collaborate (Appendix A)

 

This report will demonstrate that community engagement approaches have been deep-rooted throughout the OPS. It will highlight major community engagement initiatives that span the entire community engagement continuum while also reporting on the public consultation policy. It will provide a glance at projects currently underway, all while demonstrating the OPS Business Plan and Chief’s Identified Priorities.

The Ottawa Police Service 2013-2015 Business Plan identified four key strategic priorities:

·         Value: Delivering strong performance and social value

·         Community: Engaging and investing in our partners

·         Members: Engaging and investing in our people

·         Service: Delivering quality service in operation.

The Ottawa Police Service is also focused on the Chief’s identified priorities:

 

 

 

 

Strategies have been developed in relation to each of these priorities to demonstrate the importance of dedicating appropriate resources and implementing community engagement and partnerships to find solutions.

 

CONSULTATION

 

Let's Chat: Have Your Say

 

The Ottawa Police Service’s Community Development Section (CDS), the Traffic Stop Race Data Collection Project (TSRDCP) Team, and the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB), hosted a public engagement session entitled, Let's Chat: Have Your Say on February 6th, 2014 at the R.A. Centre. The aim of the session was to continue the conversation about racial profiling and the next phase of the Traffic Stop Race Data Collection Project by moving forward together. 144 participants representing community stakeholders and the OPS were welcomed by a series of project sponsors and stakeholders who acted as spokespersons for the evening. They shared the collective action taken by the OPS over the years to address issues of racial profiling (Appendix B), outlined the project components (Appendix C) and stressed the importance of community-police input to the overall process. It is worth noting that 79 of the participants indicated that they are affiliated with an organization, association, or community group.

 

The engagement continues building on the discussion questions and themes from the Let’s Chat session by utilizing other methods including interviews, group presentations, surveys, and committee meetings. 

 

Community Police Centre – Community Development Network Learning Forum

  

Community Policing Officers both uniformed and civilian, as well as members of the Community Health Resource Centres gathered and held an honest and open discussion on June 10th, 2014. This conversation allowed members of the Ottawa Police, Community Health and Resource Center to openly discuss how to set and maintain expectations for front-line staff and how all organizations involved can work together. A plan of action is being developed jointly.

  

Police Week

 

Police Week is a great opportunity to engage people in our communities on topics such as crime prevention programs and community policing. We were honoured to be joined at all our events by members of the Youth Action Committee (YAC), Community-Police Action Committee (COMPAC) and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) Liaison Committee.

 

Four (4) city wide events took place over the course of the week beginning with the official Ottawa Police Service Police Week Launch Event held at 474 Elgin St. with a number of VIP’s including Mayor Watson, hosting a charity BBQ. It is estimated that 3000 community members were engaged during Police Week Events.

 

The OPS Community Police Centres and other OPS sections, partnered with the O.P.P., the RCMP, Military Police, BIAs, Community Organizations, and Community Associations. They shared a variety of displays with the public outlining their respective roles. The community BBQ at Heatherington ended with a great game of basketball between OPS and members of the community. Police Week as always, was an opportunity to celebrate and promote some of our community policing and mobilization efforts successfully.

 

Community Development - officer engaging with youth in Ottawa.

  

 

Youth Initiative

 

The Ottawa Police Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) brings a youth voice to policing and gives youth a chance to share ideas and work with police on decisions and projects that matter to Ottawa youth. The YAC facilitated ten chat sessions over the past year reaching out to different communities across Ottawa.

 

On June 23, 2014, five YAC members facilitated a chat session for the youth at Lowertown Community Resource Centre in response to community concerns around safety and fear following some recent shootings in their area. The youth engaged in a discussion to address feelings of safety in the community and building positive relations with Ottawa Police members. The session gave youth a voice and an opportunity to be heard and empowered by providing their own ideas on how things can be improved by working together. This was an opportunity for the OPS to proactively respond to youth concerns by providing them with a youth-friendly peer-to-peer model within their own space.  It was also an opportunity to educate the youth around Crime Stoppers. This has resulted in the OPS & the youth working together to ensure that the youths concerns and aspirations are directly reflected in the alternatives being developed and that their input influences the decisions to be made.

 

COMPAC Business Plan

 

The Diversity & Race Relations Section took the lead in the creation of the 2013-2015 Business Plan for the Community Police Action Committee (COMPAC).

 

COMPAC members comprised of community and police members took part in a series of facilitated sessions reviewing their achievements and successes to date. This review included taking stock of previously identified priorities, noting the status of each of those priorities, and identifying areas that have been overlooked or previously unacknowledged. After extensive consultation, facilitation, and dialogue, the following strategic themes were identified for the 2013-2015 COMPAC Business Plan: Community Engagement; Knowledge Management; Marketing and Communication; Racial Profiling and Youth Engagement. These themes were to encompass issues and concerns that have been brought to the various COMPAC members, both from a community and police perspective. The 2013-2015 Business Plan is currently used as an operational framework for COMPAC to build trust and strengthen relations between the police and racialized and Aboriginal communities (Appendix D).

 

Pixels for Pistols

 

The Guns and Gangs and DART Units of the Ottawa Police Service participated in its first ever “Pixels for Pistols” initiative—a partnership between the OPS, Henry’s and Olympus Canada to ensure that firearms do not find their way onto Ottawa-area streets.

 

In this first year of participation, the OPS announced that an impressive 1,035 guns had been collected as part of the gun amnesty.  Both media coverage and community engagement occurred in order to promote the initiative. Ottawa residents were encouraged to turn in unwanted firearms in exchange for a camera from area Henry’s Canada photograph stores.   The Guns & Gangs and DART Units were instrumental in ensuring the guns were picked up in a safe and timely manner. In all, a breakdown of the firearms collected was 735 shotguns/rifles; 178 handguns; 104 air guns; and 18 “other”.

Violence Against Women (VAW)

 

Violence Against Women (VAW) has been identified as one of three priorities for the Police Chief.  This initiative will build upon the milestones and previous recommendations that have already been achieved within the Ottawa Police Service and the community in response to VAW. The OPS will be conducting research on responses to VAW, both internally and externally to our Service. This will include looking at how our Service allocates resources to address VAW; further, additional prevention strategies will be developed in consultation and cooperation with external partners. The OPS continues to engage community partners in open dialogue to help promote and raise awareness regarding violence against women.

This is an ongoing initiative with further public consultation to be held with a “Let’s Chat” session on VAW. 

 

Breaking the Silence: “a community forum discussing violence framed as honour”

 

This was a collaborative initiative between the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre, the OPS, and Algonquin College’s Victimology program. The objective of the community consultation was to continue the dialogue on Violence Framed as Honour (VFH) and to have the community contribute to the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre’s Community Strategy for VFH.  The information gathered at the community consultation will be used as a resource for the Community Strategy for VFH.  The OPS will continue to work towards the development of an integrated community strategy to deal with VFH.

 

Ottawa Police/Ottawa Hospital Mental Health Unit Live Program

 

After completing and assessing a very successful pilot project in 2012, the Ottawa Police Service’s Mental Health Unit (MHU), in partnership with The Ottawa Hospital and Ottawa University, launched its OPS/Ottawa Mental Health Unit Live Program in 2013.  For up to three (3) days per week, this program involves a doctor of psychiatry and/or psychiatric resident paired with MHU officers responding to emergency calls involving persons with a mental illness. This “team” has been able to drastically improve the level of service provided to members of the community who find themselves in crisis and/or who are suffering from a mental illness. The establishment of this program has provided patrol officers and Duty Inspectors with a resource to assist them in making difficult decisions in emergency situations such as when dealing with barricaded persons. 

 

CEW Project

 

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) launched a review of current Conducted Energy Weapon (CEW) deployment practices within the OPS and partner agencies, following the release of revised guidelines associated with the use of CEWs by the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. The review was meant to help inform the development of CEW deployment models for consideration.

 

The review included a consultation that was carried out externally with the public, partners, and stakeholders, as well as internally with the membership.  A number of formats were used for outreach including a questionnaire for the public and internal members. A total of 1200 responses were received from the public, and 645 from members. Face to face meetings were also held with a variety of groups including agencies serving the mental health community, academics, civil liberties groups, social justice groups, and the Community Police Action Committee (COMPAC).

 

The consultation helped raise awareness about the revised guidelines, provided some information on CEWs and their use within the OPS, and ensured stakeholders, the public and OPS members had an opportunity to inform the subsequent proposed CEW deployment plan.

 

The result was an approved two-year deployment plan that not only met the requirements of the OPS and the OPS Board, but also took into account internal and external concerns and recommendations raised around training, potential overuse of the devices, vulnerable populations, accountability and data collection.

 

Robbery Prevention Strategies

 

The Ottawa Police Service’s Robbery Unit has been actively engaged in the use of media and social media to regularly disseminate safety/prevention tips with respect to robberies—in particular, street-level robberies such as those where cell-phones and personal electronics are targeted.   Recently, the Robbery Unit partnered with the Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) to develop and launch cell-phone robbery flash cards entitled “You don’t flash your cash – why flash your phone?” to offer prevention tips to youth in the community, and was able to also provide 4000 cards to Carleton University for distribution to newly-arriving students.

 

This has resulted in a downward trend in these types of robberies, with both personal robberies and swarmings each down 24% (YTD) - a difference of 81 actual occurrences.

 

A Multi-Stakeholder Approach to Problem Addresses in Ottawa

 

On July 18, 2014, OPS celebrated the completion of this important agreement for a multi-stakeholder approach to problem addresses, to re-affirm our commitment to working together to resolve community problems and to promote community safety.

 

The signatories include Ottawa Community Housing, Bylaw and Regulatory Services of the City of Ottawa, Crime Prevention Ottawa, South East Ottawa Community Health Centre and the Lowertown Community Resource Centre.

 

Crime Prevention week

 

Held in November, the theme for the Ottawa Police Service Crime Prevention Week was “Personal Safety – Reduce the Risk”.

 

Crime Prevention Week was successful thanks to partnership with the OPS Crime Prevention Section, Community Police Centres, Community Development, Corporate Communications, Media Relations and community partners. The purpose of this week is to foster a sense of empowerment in our local communities, and raise awareness of the range of work officers and volunteers do on a daily basis to keep crime down, and make communities safe. Each year it allows us to sustain our current relationships and build capacity. Some of the events that took place included a presentation on sexting/cyber bullying, safety tips for seniors, a Women’s Safety Agency Fair and airport security presentations.

 

NEW COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TOOLS

 

COMMUNICATIONS

 

Digital, web and social media platforms are playing an increasing role in consultation and public engagement strategies. To support those strategies Corporate Communications has increasingly focused on developing and expanding the OPS presence on various digital and social platforms. The OPS continues to see success in these areas and, based on statistics, continues to see an increase in engagement with the public in these forums.

 

Web Statistics – ottawapolice.ca

 

This year, Corporate Communications redesigned ottawapolice.ca with the assistance of a member-based Web Committee. Together, through a series of planning meetings, surveys and public focus groups, a new website was created with several upgrades including compliance with provincially-mandated Accessibility Standards (WCAG), a new Online Reporting system, a more photo-centric design, integrated OPS social media sites and the addition of a mobile site, which makes it easier to view the website on smart-phones.

 

Quick Facts:

Since the launch of our website on May 14, 2014:

·         The website has averaged 500-1500 visits per day.

·         Our top 10 most visited web pages include (1=most popular):

1.    Contact Us

2.    Records Checks

3.    Careers (sworn and civilian)

4.    Find a Police Station

5.    Online Reporting

6.    Crime Mapping Tool

7.    News

8.    Police Reports

9.    Most Wanted, and

10. FAQs page.

 

OPS New App

 

The OPS has launched a new app for iOS users that makes it easier to stay connected with the Ottawa Police.  It includes several features such as access to online reporting, crime maps, traffic disruptions, a collision toolkit, a call police function, find a police station and more!

 

The app is compatible with iPhone / iPad only – but future versions will include other platforms like Android phones. It is available for download from iTunes by searching "Ottawa Police Service" in the Apple Apps Store and it will automatically upload according to the language you have selected for your iOS device (English or French).

 

iphone with Ottawa Police app

 

 

 

 

 

 

Community Connection E-Newsletter

 

The OPS Community Development Section launched the Community Connection E-Newsletter. The newsletter is shared quarterly with issues in spring, summer, fall and winter.  It is a part of community development mission and vision of dedication to keeping Ottawa informed about our community initiatives and how to keep the community safe. The aim is to nurture and strengthen respectful, transparent and trusting partnerships at all levels between the police and the community; it is the core of where our police service is headed as part of our core values.

 

19

Social Media

 

The OPS has a growing presence on social media with over 40 Twitter accounts, 2 Facebook pages, as well as Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vine and Instagram accounts.

 

Currently, our top social media accounts are:

 

·         The OPS Twitter account (@OttawaPolice) currently has 26,000 followers. (Reported at 14,384  in June 2013 and at 3,512 in June 2012)

·         The OPS Facebook page currently has 6,716 likes (Reported at 4,061 likes in June 2013 and 728 in June 2012)

·         Chief Bordeleau’s Twitter (@ChiefBordeleau) currently has 5,100 followers (Reported at 3,295 followers in June 2013  and 1,050 in June 2012)

·         Cst. Peter McKenna’s Twitter (@OfficerMcKenna) currently has 4,545 followers (reported at 3,162 followers in June 2013)

·         The OPS Media (@OttPoliceMedia) currently has 2,438 followers (new)

·         Deputy Chief Jill Skinner’s (@JMSkinner) currently has 2,319 followers (Reported at 1,609 followers in June 2013)

·         The OPS Duty Inspectors (@DutyInspector) currently have 1,689 followers.

·         Supt. Uday Jaswal currently has 1,076 followers.

 

By adopting new business practices, we have found faster methods of communicating important and useful information to the media and the public. Now, our Media Relations Officers use Twitter to issue updates on road closures, traffic alerts and instructions to media. After business hours, our Duty Inspectors also Tweet important incidents to the media and the public.

 

Through strategic use of social media, we’ve also been successful in maintaining public interest in previously issued news. Our stats indicate that we’ve been able to regularly renew public interest in our Annual Report, iOS app, and Most Wanted files (to name a few), long after their initial launch. This can be seen through the direct correlation between social media content issued and the increase in web hits or app downloads on those same days.

 

By strategizing, planning, and monitoring our social media accounts, Corporate Communications has been able to identify specific success factors including statistics on the public engagement, popularity of content and the reach of our messages.

 

CONCLUSION

 

This report is the product of continued collaborative work between the OPS, Ottawa Police Services Board, many community organizations and the residents of Ottawa who have taken the time and the opportunity to help shape and set the direction of the OPS.

 

The Board and the OPS have seen a substantial amount of public involvement, and have identified actions to enhance community engagement, relationships and partnerships. We have engaged the community through traditional methods and continue to introduce and explore new and innovative methods.

 

This report is just a snapshot of the efforts to engage the community and highlight the gains of numerous benefits through the process of engagement. The process provides opportunities for cooperative, co-learning experiences, and critical reflection from community wisdom. Inviting leadership from the community helps demonstrate that their participation is valued and that their views will be considered. This, we believe, will enable us to build trust, increase communication and create openness to utilizing services.

 

Partnership In Action (PIA) is the cornerstone of public consultation for the Police Service.  Along with continual consultation at the district and neighbourhood level, PIA initiatives provide an opportunity to focus on particular themes and key decisions to support the community-based policing approach. 

 

The OPS will continue to look for opportunities to harness and enhance the Service’s community engagement philosophy. The Community Development Section will be working with the Board as well as with areas of the organization to determine public engagement projects for 2015 that meet current community interests, concerns and priorities. 

 

 


(Original signed by)

 

Charles Bordeleau

Chief of Police

 

Responsible for report:  Director David Snoddy

 

Attach.  (Annex A, Annex B, Annex C, Annex D)