Questions raised about status of police bike patrols in 2017
By Brier Dodge, Ottawa East News, December 15, 2016
In June 2016, patrol officers took to their bikes to demonstrate a new sonar device. Patrol officers often use bicycles to patrol in high traffic areas, such as Centretown and the Byward Market.
As city police enact a new service model in 2017, questions about how visible officers using bicycles will be – especially in high traffic areas such as the Byward Market — are being raised
Frontline first responders working in the Byward Market say the service changes will mean the end of bike patrols as people have come to know them. Through the new service model, called a service initiative update, several changes will be made such as the structure of the city's community policing efforts.
The change means there will be a new central command centre for the city, located on Greenbank Road in Nepean, and officers will be focused on responding to calls, and areas with high call volumes.
Officers involved in bike patrol said they don’t expect to be on their bikes nearly as often under the new service model. They expect that in the new system, they’ll be expected to respond to calls for service and will only be out on bike patrol in their leftover time during their shift – which they expect to be not that often.
Ottawa Police said they will continue to have officers using bicycles as part of patrol duties, but can’t say if residents in areas with frequent bike patrols – such as the Byward Market – can expect to see officers on bikes less often in the future.
“The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) has, and will continue to have, officers utilizing bicycles as part of their patrol duties,” said Supt. Mark Ford in a written statement. “It works very well in congested areas and also increases the visibility of our officers and improves their ability to engage with the community. The SI changes are to our internal structure and processes not to our deep rooted belief in community policing.”
Matt Skof, president of the union that represents police officers, said there’s no way there will be as many officers on bikes under the new service model, and that it’s unrealistic to expect to see them as often in high traffic areas such as the Market.
“Come January, there will be no district policing,” Skof said. “Because the numbers they’ve assigned to patrol are simply putting back the numbers to where they should have been five years ago… it’s absolutely unrealistic to state in the situation we’re in with understaffing that officers will have time to do proactive policing.
"It’s a very valid concern,” he said.
Skof used to work as a supervisor with the downtown unit that included officers who patrolled on bicycles. He thinks the difference under the new model will be noticeable – and having officers patrolling on bicycles in an area such as the Market, where they encounter many of the same faces day to day, is crucial.
The officers patrolling are familiar with many of the people that have high interaction rates with police, and often know their history and their files.
“Having also supervised patrol officers in the market as well, they knew the people they dealt with in the shelters,” Skof said.
“Anyone trying to suggest there will be bike patrols given our staffing model needs to take a look at how incredibly stretched our staffing model is,” he said.
Coun. Mathieu Fleury, whose ward includes the Byward Market, which is used to seeing police patrolling on foot and bicycle, said those types of patrols build trust with the community.
“There is tension between the union and the leadership, and you can see that change can heighten that tension,” Fleury said. “The chief asks for 50 officers, we give it to him, but what gives? From a councillor’s point of view, it’s tough. We have given them 25 officers, and we then we gave them another 25, but it seems like the benefits are lost in the great scheme of things.”
Several councillors expressed concern about the impact on community policing moving forward at the Dec. 14 city council meeting as the city's 2017 budget was approved.
Fleury said that he wouldn’t support the police budget, because while he’s had good meetings with the police chief, he feels the consultation on the new policing model has been unclear.
“It’s very important for me and my community that officers are in the community, doing proactive work,” added Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney.
But Police Chief Charles Bordeleau told council that the police’s community policing efforts will actually be strengthened and the new model will ensure resources are used in a more fluid manner.