The Somerset Community Police Centre moves into a small office on the second floor of city hall.
The Somerset Community Police Centre’s impending move to city hall has another opponent in Coun. Diane Holmes, who echoes sentiments from other neighbourhood leaders, saying the new locale is too isolated to serve the public.
Police announced earlier this month that the centre would move from its current storefront location to the second floor of city hall. Insp. Uday Jaswal said rent at the old building is too high – though oft-cited flood damage did prompt police to search for a new locale last year.
The relocation has already spawned controversy across two community groups. Rob Dekker, vice-president of the Centretown Citizens Community Association, and Michael Powell, president of the Dalhousie Community Association, both said the centre will be tucked away from the community that needs it.
Holmes agrees. “The whole point of those (community police centres),” she says, “is to be out in the middle of communities.”
Holmes doubts Jaswal’s claims that the city service-centred Laurier address will draw more walk-ins.
“People come here to pay their water bills or to pick up information on federal, provincial, municipal programs,” she says. “So they’re not coming here in a crisis mode.”
Ottawa’s community police centres are seldom used, Holmes says, but this could be fixed by having a strong volunteer-base delivering some of the centre’s programs and promoting the centre as a place to turn to if needed. She says the city does not have nearly enough officers to perform, for example, community callbacks and visits – something a volunteer force could carry out.
“Community policing means that the community says how they want to be policed” she says. “And they’re involved in that policing.”
The centre is scheduled to re-open at city hall in early September.