Ottawa Police provide further update on new provincial authorities to support public health orders

The Ottawa Police Service continues to work with its public health, municipal and policing partners to implement new Provincial enforcement measures to support public health orders announced by the Province Friday.

Our community is facing the crisis of the pandemic together and we will continue to support the overall public health efforts to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Public trust and cooperation are vital to this approach and the unnecessary or inequal application of any new authorities is unacceptable and harmful to that effort.

New Authorities: Until such time as we have thoroughly reviewed the new authorities as per the All Chiefs Memo/ Orders in Council and they are clearly understood, there will be no change in our actions as a result of the provincial announcement related to new authorities.  Further communication will be forthcoming with clear direction on the new authorities, once they have been reviewed.

We have sought the expert advice of Ottawa Public Health (OPH) and its Board of Health on how any new authorities can best be implemented to positively impact health outcomes related to the pandemic. We will be following any OPH advice or requests for support closely to ensure these authorities are only used for their intended purpose of supporting public health orders and public health outcomes.

The OPS will not be conducting random stops. We will be taking a deliberate and careful approach that emphasizes equity, legality, and efficacy in the application of these authorities with the specific and exclusive purpose to support public health measures.

We are also consulting our Community Equity Council to ensure community voices are part of any implementation plan. The concerns raised by racialized and marginalized communities are top of mind.

Our members have been called upon to assist in this effort and we require community support to be effective. Our members are experiencing unrelenting criticism while we are doing everything possible to rebuild public trust with marginalized and racialized communities.

Interprovincial crossings: Our Pandemic planning and Traffic teams are working with their partners to design an operational plan for restriction at interprovincial bridges. A further update on these plans will be provided by Sunday evening.

We ask members of the public to follow the advice and guidelines of public health officials and follow the provisions of the Stay-at-home order

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