The Ottawa Police Service (OPS; French: Service de police d'Ottawa) is the municipal police service of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The OPS serves an area of 2,790 square kilometres and 1,017,449 (2021 census) people, alongside several other police forces which have specialized jurisdiction.
History
The OPS can trace its origins to the "Bytown Association", formed in 1847. In 1855 Roderick Ross was the first chief constable for the newly-formed City of Ottawa. Over time, neighbouring municipalities also formed their own police forces, including Eastview in 1913 (became the Vanier Police in 1963) and Gloucester-Nepean in 1957 (split into separate Nepean and Gloucester Police in 1964). As a precursor to future amalgamations, the Vanier Police were absorbed by the Ottawa Police in 1984.
In 1995, the Ottawa, Nepean, and Gloucester police forces amalgamated to form the Ottawa-Carleton Regional Police Service. The jurisdiction of the new force was extended to portions of Ottawa-Carleton that had previously been under the jurisdiction of the Ontario Provincial Police.
The modern Ottawa Police Service was formed in 2001 following the amalgamation of Ottawa-Carleton's constituent municipalities into Ottawa.
Over the course of Ottawa's history, the police forces have had 14 officers killed in the line of duty.
Policing philosophy
The OPS, takes a community-oriented approach to policing. The Neighbourhood Resource Team (NRT) program was created to deploy frontline constables into high-crime and high-traffic areas. After the closure of the OPS school resource officer program, NRT gained a new youth subdivision intended to engage with at-risk youth outside of the education system. The PIVOT team works to combat guns and gangs within Ottawa through a strategic deployment to certain communities.
The OPS hiring process is longer than most services in Canada. An onboarding process can take up to 18 months to complete before training. Frontline OPS constables are expected to prioritize community interaction, which is a different approach from traditional law enforcement.
Community policing is displayed in many OPS units. Frontline and NRT constables are expected to make connections with citizens and businesses in the areas they serve. This in turn, creates a more trusting environment all-around.
The OPS was the first police service in Canada to include a Hate Crimes investigative branch.
Organization
The current chief of police is Eric Stubbs.
On Friday, October 21st, 2022, Ottawa Police Service Board Chair announced RCMP Assistant Commissioner Eric Stubbs would become Ottawa’s next Chief of Police effective November 17th, 2022.
The rank of senior constable is no longer awarded, however the rank is still in effect until the last senior constable retires. To have become a senior constable, an officer had to have had ten years service and have successfully completed the sergeant's promotional exam.
With very rare exceptions, all police officers receive their three-month police training and basic constables diplomas at the Ontario Police College, located in Aylmer, Ontario.
New police recruits are hired as 4th class constables, and without any training or discipline issues, can expect to reach the rank of 1st class constable within 5 years. A 1st class constable has a base salary pretax of approximately $96,000, not including overtime and off-duty court time. This pay rate is the norm compared to other police services found within Ontario and generally the Ottawa Police Service falls within the top five highest paid services in the province.
The OPS also maintains a Ceremonial Guard to attend the many community events and parades that occur in Ottawa as a representative of the police service, and the Ottawa Police Service Pipe Band, which competes every season in the Ontario pipe band circuit, most notably finishing as Ontario Championship Supreme in grade 2 in 2012.
Inter-agency relationships
Security services at Parliament Hill and the parliamentary district in Ottawa are handled by the Parliamentary Protective Service (PPS) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), not the OPS. The RCMP generally do not play a role in municipal police operations in Ottawa, with the exception of federal land managed by the National Capital Commission. Under federal and provincial law, the RCMP have jurisdiction over the entire city but maintain a mandate of diplomatic engagements, federal land, and the carriage rides.
The Ontario Provincial Police patrol Ottawa's main provincial highways (Highway 416 and the Queensway).