Annual budget $237 million (2011) | Legal jurisdiction City of Ottawa | |
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Motto Community Service Communautaire Formed 1995 (OPS), 1855 (Original) Legal personality Governmental: Government agency General nature Law enforcement
Civilian agency | ||
The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) (Service de police d'Ottawa in French) serves the City of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Contents
History
The OPS roots come from the formation of the "Bytown Association" 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 (which became the Vanier police in 1963) and Gloucester-Nepean in 1957 (in 1964, this service split into separate Nepean and Gloucester forces). As a precursor to future amalgamations, the Vanier Police was 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 service area of the new force was extended to those portions of Ottawa-Carleton that had previously been policed by the Ontario Provincial Police.
The service was given its current name in 2001, to reflect the amalgamation of Ottawa-Carleton's constituent municipalities into the new City of Ottawa.
Over the course of Ottawa's history, the Police forces have lost 14 officers in the line of duty.
Organization
The Chief of Police Charles Bordeleau, formerly Deputy Chief of Operations.
The rank structure consists of the following:
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 diploma 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 three years. A 1st Class Constable has a base salary pretax of approximately $81,000, 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.
Inter-agency relationships
Security services at Parliament Hill and all embassies 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, however many of their Ottawa based members have received special constable status by OPS which grants them the same Provincial enforcement powers as an OPS officer.
The Ontario Provincial Police patrols Ottawa's main provincial highways (Highway 416 and the Queensway).
The Canadian Forces deploy their own Military Police to patrol Department of National Defence property.
The OPS provides law enforcement services at Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport and is also authorized to act on behalf of Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport Authority to provide certain security services. Before the 1997 semi-privatization of Class 1 Canadian airports, these services were provided by the RCMP to Transport Canada.
In April 2007, the Ottawa Police Services Board granted special constable status to Transit Law Enforcement Officers employed by the City of Ottawa Transit Services (OC Transpo). OPS works in partnership with Transit Special Constables who provide many front-line supplemental police services in cooperation with the Ottawa Police.
In the same way, some of the Safety Forces of Carleton University are sworn as Special Constables and hold limited police powers on campus grounds.
Operations
OPS has five police stations and 19 community policing centres.
Patrol Operations
Criminal Investigative Services
Support Services
Emergency Operations
Corporate Services
Executive Services
Fleet
The majority of marked patrol vehicles deployed by the Ottawa Police Service is the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, recently in 2012, the Ford Taurus was added to the fleet to become the new majority of the marked patrol vehicles. The Ford Taurus deployed by the Ottawa Police Service have the Police Interceptor will offer a choice of V-6s: a naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V-6 and an EcoBoost turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6. Both are promised to produce more power in police trim than their respective civilian forms of 265 hp for the unboosted motor and 365 for the twin-turbo EcoBoost. Some other marked vehicles are the Ford Explorer and Ford Expedition. The Ford Interceptor Utility which is similar to the Ford Explorer is primarily used for two manned patrols while most of the Ford Expedition are equipped for and used by the tactical unit.
The OPS has one fixed wing aircraft, a Cessna 206 and various marine vehicles that patrol Ottawa waterways in the summer.
Unmarked vehicles consist of many different vehicles. While the most notable is the Chevrolet Impala, the unmarked fleet also has vehicles from almost every make, most of which are not police package vehicles. Black Dodge Caravans and a few Smart Cars are included in the unmarked fleet.
In late 2007, OPS purchased a small group of on wheels equipped with Ford's Street Appearance Package, making the cars look more like civilian Crown Victorias. The vehicles are recognizable, however, by its police wheel covers and LED strips at the top of the front windshield and rear window.
In February 2012, OPS ordered a total of 58 Ford Police Interceptors based on the new Taurus platform to replace the discontinued Ford Crown Victoria variant. The total cost for the units came to $1,621,596. The new vehicles were deemed necessary to replace current vehicles over 3 years old or 160,000 km use. The requirement for replacement of marked general patrol vehicles in 2014 is projected to be a total of 37 vehicles (36 sedans and 1 utility). The 2014 replacement vehicles purchased under this request will actually be the 2015 model. The cost of thirty seven (37) police package vehicles is estimated to be $1,016,601 including taxes. OPS vehicles that are at the end of their lifecycle are sent to public auction and the proceeds are used to help fund the vehicle replacement program.
Replacement of Marked General Patrol Vehicles
2007 Ottawa Police Fleet: