Const. Chuck Benoit with an Ottawa police hoodie, one of the items available to buy from the police force’s new merchandise website. Cassandra Wood, Centretown NewsThe Ottawa Police Service has launched a new website for its promotional merchandise after closing its gift shop on Elgin Street this summer.
Fleece sweaters for $39.99, baby bibs for $8.99 and coffee mugs for $6.99 are among the many items that consumers can now purchase from the digital shop.
The items for sale are either emblazoned with identifying block letters or the OPS logo—a crest, encircled by leaves, tinted with hues of gold, white, blue and red.
The police merchandise shop opened about 17 years ago at the force’s headquarters at 474 Elgin St. It was inspired by the OPP and RCMP’s marketing of promotional products.
“We thought it would be nice in the public to have our logo displayed,” said Bill Keeler, the gift shop supervisor.
The organization sells a lot of its items to employees, families and retirees of the service.
“Internally, I think people are proud of their organization. And I think they are proud to display that fact,” said Jeff KilCollins, inspector of materiel management for the force.
The downtown shop shut down in July after a decrease in sales compared to previous years. Keeler said he believes that the removal of various services that had previously brought foot traffic to the headquarters, combined with the lack of parking on the busy street, contributed to the store’s closing.
“We couldn’t really keep everything open — a storefront and a website,” said Keeler. “So we decided to do the website because it is better controlled and it’s out to more people now.”
Profits from the merchandise are donated to charities chosen by the chief of police.
“We probably don’t market that side of it enough,” KilCollins said. “But that’s something we’d like people to know when they are buying merchandise from the gift shop.”
This year, the Ottawa Distress Centre and Youville Centre will split profits that total nearly $11,000. In 2015, profits were about $8,000 higher.
Despite the falling figures, Keeler noted that there is still a market for Ottawa Police promotional products.
There have yet to be any online orders placed from the U.S., but there have been sales to customers in Carleton Place, Toronto and even Calgary.
However, Ottawa-based brand strategist Dennis Van Staalduinen said he isn’t sure the police service will garner much support beyond the bounds of the city.
“I wouldn’t expect them to have a lot of sales outside of Ottawa, just because there is no connection, or passion, or interest in that brand,” he said.
Van Staalduinen noted that most public agencies with promotional merchandise market primarily to employees or their families.
He added that public services have a role to play in branding themselves with a positive public image, but it is important to question how this branding occurs.
“They have had a couple of high profile, public scandals where there are some communities that are angry at them,” said Van Staalduinen.
He also questioned the safety of selling clothing to the public with police logos and crests. If the force is not careful, there’s a risk that a citizen could use the products to resemble an officer.
But Keeler said the clothing up for sale is “casual looking” and distinguishable from the city’s police uniform.
He added that neither the RCMP nor the OPP have had incidents in which civilians have worn promotional clothing to impersonate officers.