The Ottawa Police Services Board has approved a motion aimed at gaining greater board authority over the commemorative naming of police buildings.
Instead of naming police buildings after notable individuals, the policy is to ensure they are named in relation to their location in the city.
The motion is primarily intended to make sure police stations across the city are clearly identifiable and easy to find.
However, the motion needs to be approved by city council before it becomes official.
West Carleton Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, chair of the board, put the motion forward a few months ago when he came up with the idea.
He wanted to create a policy separate from the city’s policy because not all regulations are effective in both the city and police department; they are two different administrative systems.
“The reason for bringing a policy forward is to provide direction and clarity on the naming of police buildings, and to specifically put in place a policy that police buildings not be commemoratively named,” says Wendy Fedec, executive director of the board.
Instead of naming police buildings after different individuals, Fedec said this policy will make sure they are only named by a “geographical or operational reference.”
The only police station that is commemoratively named is the main station on Elgin Street, which is already named after retired police chief Thomas G. Flanagan.
"Not too many people even call it Thomas Flanagan headquarters. They call it Elgin Street central station,” says El-Chantiry, reinforcing the fact that naming police building after individuals is an ineffective naming process.
However, internal facilities such as boardrooms and meeting halls can still be named after notable police officers. The board will be allowed to approve the naming themselves, instead of going through the city.
Possible candidates will have to be nominated and will be evaluated by the Ottawa Police Services Board.
This means that an internal facility may be named after fallen officer Eric Czapnik, who was stabbed to death outside the Civic Campus of the Ottawa Hospital while sitting in his patrol car in December.
“The policy has nothing to do with Constable Czapnik,” says Fedec.
Although there are not yet any plans, El-Chantiry says he’d support a commemorative naming in honour of Czapnik.
He says there are individuals deserving of recognition, such as Czapnik, but he wants to ensure there is no confusion when it comes to finding a police station because it’s more important that people can easily access them.