Most people would say that their personal contact with Ottawa police officers is the equivalent of seeing them drive around in white police cruisers behind rolled-up windows. Some may have called police for assistance and have had an opportunity to see the officer get out of their police vehicle and get a close-up look at them.
These officers are called "emergency response officers" and they are the frontline officers who answer the "priority one" and "priority two" police calls that our communications centre receives daily (close to 1,000 per day). In short, when you call 911, these are the folks that show up.
So you may ask yourself: "Who shows up you when someone calls to report ongoing community nuisance like panhandling, graffiti, traffic concerns, vandalism, and such community issues?"
For residents in the Centretown, Glebe, Ottawa South and Hintonburg/Mechanicsville areas, the team of police officers that responds to community issues are part of the Central West District 23 Team (CW D-23). The CW D-23 area extends from the canal, to the Ottawa River, to Carling Avenue, to Island Park, to the Ottawa River Parkway to Wellington and the canal again.
The CW D-23 Team is comprised of 10 neighbourhood officers, two traffic officers, two school resources officers, two community police officers, four beat officers, one crime analyst, four street crime officers, one staff sergeant and four sergeants who supervise the officers who are all constables.
This unit responds to what directly impacts the community, but is not an emergency or life threatening situation. The key issues are typically: traffic regulation, prostitution, crack houses, drug trafficking, graffiti, vagrancy, aggressive panhandlers, vandalism, thefts from vehicles, break and enters and general safety/security. The reporting of such issues rarely warrants a 911 call and that is why the Ottawa Police encourages people to "make the right call" when reporting crimes in their neighbourhood.
The CW D-23 team of officers, operating under the command of Acting Inspector Murdock MacLeod (a Glebe resident himself), work hard to ensure that Centretown, Glebe and Hintonburg remain safe and enjoyable places to live. Insp. MacLeod’s role is to ensure that the District 23 Team responds to the various concerns brought forward by the community and ensures that the response is measured according, in some cases, to the volume of calls for service for a variety of issues.
This highlights how "making the right call" is so important for Ottawa Police. If community concerns are not made known, then the D-23 Team can't properly monitor and address what is going on in the community. .
Our CW D-23 Team at a glace:
Neighbourhood officers mainly respond to complaints around crack houses, prostitution, break and enters, thefts from vehicles, graffiti and typically will use a combination of crime enforcement and prevention to address these issues. Neighbourhood officers will also target prostitution by conducting prostitute and john "sweeps" of the Centretown area and can also assist in the apprehension of culprits who vandalize our community with graffiti. They have been effective in shutting down several cracks house in the Centretown area.
Traffic officer's mandate is to respond to all traffic regulation concerns in the Centretown, Glebe and Hintonburg neighbourhoods. They are the officers who monitor the "high risk" intersections, the school zones, set up speed traps and enforce equipment regulations under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act. If you meet them, it will probably cost you demerit points and a fine.
School resources officers keep our area school safe and secure. They respond to any incident occurring on school property during school hours. They are called upon by the school administrators to deal with issues around, bullying and crime prevention education in the elementary school and investigate all crimes committed by students on high school property.
Community police officers are the officers in charge of the two area community police centres (Somerset and Wellington CPC's). These officers attend community association meetings and bring residents concerns to the attention of the rest of the D-23 Team. The community police centres are mostly run by community volunteers who sign up with the Police Service and give back to the community by delivering five crime prevention programs: Neighbourhood Watch, Business Watch, Home Security Inspection, Child Print and Operation Identification.
Beat squad officers are the officers most residents likely come across. They are the tireless officers who walk up and down the main arteries of Centretown, the Glebe and Hintonburg typically wearing bright neon yellow/lime green jackets or riding a bike, in the summer. They deal with concerns around vagrancy, aggressive pan handling, loitering, or any concerns that impact business owners along their beat. Beat officers are the “eyes and ears” of the team as they have daily interaction with the community on the streets. Recently the team has welcomed five additional officers who form up the "Street Crime Unit". This Unit directly targets any active criminal activity on a daily basis and is deemed to have serious impact on the community if not dealt with expediently.
Next time you see an Ottawa Police patrol officer driving down the street, you will know that behind that officer stands a whole supporting cast ready to work with you to make your neighbourhood a safe and enjoyable place to live.
Remember to "make the right call" . . . Call 911 for life threatening or crimes in progress; call 613-230-6211 for other emergencies; and call the Ottawa Police Call Centre at 613-236-1222, ext. 7300 to report a theft, missing person, vandalism, etc. If you wish to report criminal activity anonymously, call Crime Stoppers at 613-233-TIPS (8477) or 1-800-222-8477.
The Central West District 23 Team can be reached at 613-236-1222 (ext 5766) and the extensions for the Somerset/Centretown Community Police Centre is 5804 while the Wellington Community Police Centre is 5870.
But most of all, do not hesitate to call and report criminal and/or suspicious activity in your backyard.