Proposed security features at Ottawa police headquarters include tree planters and cement barriers.
The Ottawa Police Service is planning a major security upgrade at its headquarters on Elgin Street that includes the installation of barriers to prevent a vehicle from being driven through the building’s front entrance.
The changes address what Greg Robertson, the force’s manager of security operations, calls “the reality of threats within the Canadian environment” and follows recent attacks on two other police stations in Ontario.
Robertson called cars or trucks “the weapon of choice for individuals” bent on inflicting damage to a police station and the officers within. He said there are many reasons a police station may be a target of a vehicular attack.
“People come to the police station in their vehicle (and) they are not necessarily in a calm state of mind or they may be intoxicated,” he says. “For whatever reason, there seems to be a large number of vehicles that are causing damage to police stations.”
Last April, Angela Porteous, 36, was arrested in Carleton Place for driving her car through a rear parking lot and damaging multiple parked police cruisers. No one was injured in the incident, which led to charges against Porteous for dangerous operation of a vehicle and five counts of mischief.
The Ottawa police station — located at the corner of Elgin and Catherine streets — currently has no barriers at its front entrance. There are three unprotected paths along which a car or truck could drive directly into the building, two from Elgin Street and one from Argyle Avenue.
Robertson says the building’s age is a factor in the lack of security features on the exterior.
“As newer buildings are built, evolving threats are dealt with,” he says. “But if you take a building like (the) Elgin (police station), built a long time ago, the environment’s changed, so it doesn’t have the infrastructure for those types of events.”
The current proposed design, which is still subject to revision pending further consultation, would include reinforced barriers serving as tree planters placed in front of the Elgin Street entrance. The placement of the barriers would still allow space for pedestrians and those in wheelchairs to pass through easily.
Local accessibility advocates had criticized an earlier design, saying a planned concrete wall along the front of the police station was excessive and would pose an obstacle for people with mobility issues.
In February, the proposed changes to the streetscape at the Elgin Street station were first presented to the City of Ottawa’s accessibility advisory committee.
At the time, committee members sent the design team back to the drawing board as they felt that plan didn’t adequately meet the needs of citizens with mobility challenges.
In addition to plans for a much larger concrete barrier, the original proposal would have meant that a number of parking spaces intended to serve those with disabilities would have been moved away from the entrance area and onto Elgin Street.
During the February meeting, committee chair Victor Emerson urged a better balance between security and accessibility in a revamped proposal.
“The design that you’re presenting represents certain inconvenience to people with disabilities against a potential security risk. We don’t know what the security risk is, but it would be nice to see a rebalancing,” he said at the time.
Robertson acknowledges the importance of accessibility in turning the plans into action.
“Security is very policy-driven and the accessibility is really code-driven,” he says.
“It’s in the legislation. We have to (conform). In the end, we take it very seriously. That has to be our priority. We have to make sure it’s accessible; a police station is open to the public. We can’t discriminate against people,” Robertson says.
He says the designers continue looking for ways to create safe and accessible parking while maintaining the barriers and enhancing security.
While officials say enhancing security is the main motivation for the building redesign, the city is also pressing to implement the changes now because the station’s parking garage is due for maintenance.
Officials say it makes sense to tackle all three of the station’s most important issues — security, accessibility and maintenance — at the same time to save taxpayers’ money.
“Rather than trying to do it all separately at additional cost, we’re trying to do it all at once for the lowest cost,” Robertson says.