As the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) apologizes for the mistakes it made during last winter’s convoy occupation, those who witnessed it, a year later, reflect on their shaken confidence in the authorities.
“Before I [trust police]. Well, I don’t know,” Ottawa-based Martynn Crooy said Friday after Commissioner Paul Rouleau released his report on the decision to invoke the Emergency Act to end the convoy protests.
“Certain cops I trust. As a group, it’s really amazing.”
“The policing was pretty pathetic,” added Philip Hannan, another resident. “You have let us down.”
The resurgence of emotion comes as Rouleau’s report accused Ottawa police of misjudging the information gathered.
Rouleau said that this both enabled and aggravated the subsequent occupation that overran parts of downtown Ottawa for several weeks.
“We apologize”
“We undoubtedly made mistakes,” OPS chief Eric Stubbs said in an interview on Monday. “And it has severely impacted a number of Ottawa residents, a number of businesses, and we apologize for that.”
Stubbs, who took up his job in November, replaced former boss Peter Sloly after he resigned amid weeks of demonstrations.
He said the force has learned lessons and strengthened the way it shares information with, among others, City Hall, the Ottawa Police Services Board and other agencies.
Rouleau’s report also placed some blame on the police department, noting that it could have done more to press for details of the OPS operational plan and did not raise certain inconsistencies it heard.
On Friday, former chief executive Diane Deans said the reporting relationship between the board and the service stems largely from the boss.
“And the police chief was asked about it again and again,” she said. “And you will remember [that] He even stated publicly that he would be very surprised if the protesters were still here on Monday.”
“I mean, in hindsight, knowing what we know now, could we have investigated more? I think we probably could have done that,” she continued.
Deans was ousted as chairman during an infamous council meeting on February 16, 2022, after news leaked that the board had quickly hired an interim police chief after Sloly’s departure, without competition and without informing the council.
Pay attention to the report’s findings, says former councilman
Former Somerset Councilor Catherine McKenney said that while this particular type of incident will never happen again, Rouleau’s recommendations should be taken seriously and similar threats should be dealt with more quickly.
“Looking back, there was no doubt in our minds – and when I say ours [I mean] Myself and other residents who only saw what happened through social media accounts — it was easy to understand that this convoy was coming,” McKenney said.
“I don’t think it took a lot of intelligence. We saw what happened.”
Sloly’s managerial decisions and decisions were also criticized in the report, but Rouleau said it would be too easy to make him a scapegoat.
Stubbs said the force is now reviewing Rouleau’s recommendations.
“All Ottawa police officers work hard every day to protect this community,” Stubbs said, reading a prepared statement. “We understand that trust in the police has eroded over the past year [and] We are fully committed to restoring that trust.”
