The protest of the convoy of trucks, which blocked the streets of Ottawa and tested the patience of residents for weeks, led to an unprecedented jump in complaints against police officers in Ottawa in the first three months of 2022.
But the vast majority of complaints about protests against the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) – which have been heavily criticized for tackling the occupation – have been deemed unfit for investigation by the Office of the Independent Director of the Police Review (OIPRD). ) of Ontario.
“I find this alarming, and I certainly expect there to be questions from the Ottawa Police Department to better understand why,” said Somerset Kaun. Catherine McKenney, whose area includes the city center, where the protest of the truck convoy was focused.
“I am also surprised by the very high percentage … of cases that are rejected,” said Michael Kempa, a criminologist at the University of Ottawa.
Some concerns considered “non-serious”
The OIPRD, an independent civilian oversight agency that investigates concerns about Ontario police behavior, received 327 public complaints against Ottawa police officers from January 1 to March 31, according to a report due to be discussed Monday by the police.
Of those, 275 were directly linked to the protest against the convoy of trucks, which began in late January and was dispersed by a team of police agencies on February 19th.
Of those 275 complaints, 263, or 95 percent, have not been investigated.
The OPS summary of 40 of the complaints provides some insight into the types of concerns expressed and why they were rejected by the OIPRD.
Several people complained that police were not doing enough to quell the protest.
“The OIPRD chose not to deal with the complaint as it was determined that it was not in the public interest to do so,” the summary of actions taken in response to some of these complaints said.
A woman has been protesting in front of the Ottawa Police Headquarters for more than a week after protesting what she saw as police inaction. (Guy Queenville / CBC)
One person complained that until February 15, OPS “repeatedly and notoriously failed to provide services to its people to protect their right to free association / assembly” – an accusation that was considered “frivolous”, according to the OPS summary.
Another person, whose complaint has not progressed, claims that former police chief Peter Sloley – who resigned before the protest was called off – sabotaged the complainant’s efforts to donate to a crowdsourcing effort to support the demonstration.
Read more of the summaries of complaints below.
“95 percent is almost every call”
According to the report, other complaints were rejected because they were “annoying” or made in bad faith.
McKenney and Kempa said more information should be provided as to why they did not continue.
“Of course, there are some calls, obviously, that would be difficult to investigate. But 95 percent is almost every call received as a complaint, “McKenney said.
“The public is following this case very closely,” Kempa added. “So it would be wise to face public concerns.
Michael Kempa has a degree in criminology at the University of Ottawa and said he was surprised by the high percentage of complaints that were rejected. (CBC)
In response to a request for an interview, the OIPRD said it would only answer written questions.
Ottawa police declined to give an interview, but said acting chief Steve Bell would be available to the media ahead of a meeting of the police board on Monday.
West Carlton-Mart Earl. Eli El-Chantiri, who chairs the board, said the jump in complaints was not surprising.
“The board has heard complaints about OPS that it is not enforcing enough law enforcement, it takes too long, it is an accomplice; and when the service carried out the application, there were complaints that it was too aggressive, “he wrote in an email.
“That’s why the review from [Ottawa’s] the chief auditor is so important that we can get answers to the questions that many remain after this protest. “
Steve Bell (left), acting Ottawa police chief, and Eli El-Chantiri (right), chairman of the Ottawa Police Council, spoke to the media ahead of last month’s board meeting. (Guy Queenville / CBC)
Several complaints combined into one
According to the report, six complaints related to employee behavior protests were sent to the OPS for investigation.
One employee was fired in the first three months of 2022, but it is unclear whether this stems from a protest complaint.
Five complaints about “differentiated treatment” were combined into one complaint, while 65 complaints about “differentiated treatment”[failure] for action ”were folded into a single complaint. Both were sent for investigation.
“OPS’s response to these consolidated service complaints will be informed by the various ongoing reviews,” the police report said.
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