As the Ford government moves to make resource officers mandatory in Ontario schools, Ottawa police say they’ve already taken steps to improve student-police relations.
In 2021, the OPS cancelled a school resource officer program that provided officer-led counselling for students and dealt with crime in schools. In January, the police created its Community Youth Unit (CYU) and assigned four officers to work with Ottawa’s schools. In June, Bill 33, updating the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, was introduced in the legislature. It included a plan to put resource officers back in schools, among other changes.
Ottawa Police Sgt. Paul McCormack, who leads a community school engagement team within the force’s CYU, says “all four school boards are engaging us in meaningful dialogue.” Officers have met with school officials to discuss safety and “what if” case scenarios.
“When we show up, at recess or for a presentation, it’s to say hi, it’s to build that rapport [with students],” said McCormack. “So, we are not patrolling hallways or anything like that.”
“It’s the school asking us to show up. They’re inviting us. They’re saying, ‘if you want to stop by anytime, feel free.’”
This collaboration between the police and Ottawa schools is why Sgt. Fernando Vieira says Bill 33 would not change much locally.
“We’re ahead of it, because we already started working with the schools in January,” said Vieira. “That work has already started.”
Vieira said OPS would request funding to add four more officers to the school engagement team.
In 2020, a Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer’s murder of George Floyd sparked international protests and conversations about police-school relations. A year later, trustees for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB) decided to discontinue its resource officer program after three decades on the job. That move led to then-chief Peter Sloly cancelling it city-wide.
Ottawa students led the push to end the program, reporting negative interactions with resource officers.
Tom Ledgley, coordinator for the advocacy group Horizon Ottawa, says that the effects of cancelling the program were noteworthy.
“Folks like us would get complaints from people fairly often about how [the program] is making people uncomfortable,” said Ledgley. “Since the relationship ended […] we have not been hearing a bunch of complaints about how the schools feel unsafe because of a lack of police officers.”
If we are not inspiring youth to want to become officers, who are we going to have?
Sgt. Fernando Vieira, Ottawa Police Service
Ledgley expressed concern about Bill 33 and what, he says, it is doing to limit local democracy.
“The will of the people is not being reflected by this push,” said Ledgley. “I think that’s why you’re seeing the Ford government doing this, not through suggesting to local schools boards that they implement such a program, but [instead] by forcing them to do that.”
Ottawa West-Nepean MPP Chandra Pasma opposes Bill 33. She said she has seen police interact with students in positive ways outside the classroom.
For Pasma, events hosted by the Ottawa police, such as Bike Rodeo and Cuts 4 Kids, “give kids and young people the opportunity to engage with officers in a way that’s not at school, where it’s very clear they’re not in trouble.”
“When kids are in school, and they’re not comfortable with the police, that school environment doesn’t build that comfort,” said Pasma. “It makes kids feel afraid.”
Pasma sees the rise in school violence as “a really big problem … [that’s] been rising in tandem with the cuts to educational funding.”
The province says this can be addressed with resource officers, but groups opposed to the idea have criticized the Ford government’s support of police-led initiatives to improve school safety.
Jeffrey Bradley is a Carleton University Legal Studies PhD candidate and uOttawa professor whose research includes violence prevention. He also disagrees with the provincial approach. He recommends a policy centered on prevention through education, mentorship and by meeting students’ food and sports needs.
“I don’t think we’re going to see the violence come down,” said Bradley. “If anything, it’s going to go up, and there’s going to be further criminalization of Black, Indigenous and people of colour.”
When asked about student perceptions of police, Vieira said that, in “the past three years, we haven’t had a positive influence on youth,” which could affect the motivations with which future recruits join the force.
“If we are not inspiring youth to want to become officers, who are we going to have? We’re going to be hiring people who just want to do it because of the money […] lead[ing] to corruption and then mistrust in the police.”
Const. Cory McAree, a former resource officer, says he witnessed the bad impression some students held as he visited schools in Vanier.
McAree said this impression simmered when officers communicated and connected with students.
“You just have to immerse yourself in the community the best you can,” said McAree. “Getting the right people working in the schools that have a passion for youth and safety and community, it will change that perception.”
Bill 33 will be back for discussion and a vote when MPPs return on Oct. 20.
Emma Testani, press secretary for Education Minister Paul Calandra, wrote in email to Capital Current that the government believes resource officer “programs help foster positive relationships between students and law enforcement, ultimately making our schools safer.”
“Over the coming months, we will continue to consult with police agencies, parent groups, and school boards across the province on how we can bring back school resource officers and youth engagement programs that will help support students and make our schools safer.”
