RECOMMENDATION

That the Ottawa Police Services Board receive this report for information.

BACKGROUND

At the December meeting of the Ottawa Police Services Board, Chief Bevan undertook to provide an interim report by January 28th, 2002, outlining an operational response for dealing with future major events similar to the G20 experience.

To ensure that the Ottawa Police Service enables its members to provide the most efficient, effective and economical response to future major events, the Superintendent in Charge of Operational Support Services has been assigned to lead a project that will report its findings back to Executive Command in a timely manner.

The Project Team has been tasked with examining the organization’s management of major events by conducting a best practices review of crowd management strategies; reviewing past operations; and providing recommendations to enhance business practices. Community consultation within the three Divisions will play an integral role in any outcomes.

DISCUSSION

Planning for Major Events in the Context of Emerging World Trends

Between November 16th and 18th, 2001 the City of Ottawa hosted delegates from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States of America who were joined by delegates from European Union and Bretton Woods Institutions (International Monetary Fund and World Bank).

Planning for the G20 meetings was assumed against the backdrop of recent global economic summits and meetings such as the 1999 WTO in Seattle, the G20 in Montreal in 2000, and the 2000 IMF/World Bank forum in Washington, D.C. The images from the 2001 Summit of the Americas in Quebec demonstrated the resolve of some protestors to violently engage the police with improvised weapons and strategies. All of these events have illustrated behaviours by protestors aimed at damaging property, disrupting forums and traffic patterns or attacking police lines; each of these influenced aspects of the planning that took place for the November meetings in Ottawa.

In addition to these considerations, planning for the G20 meetings was exacerbated by the time constraints resulting from a last minute change from two venues in India and Washington to the one in Ottawa. It is noteworthy that the changes of venues were made in response to concerns for the safety of delegates arising from the events of September 11th, 2001. The changes did not negate the potential threat of terrorist actions and these concerns also had to be factored into contingency planning on the part of the responding agencies.

The ensuing four week planning periods posed a number of remarkable challenges that would not normally be encountered when preparing for an event of this magnitude. The level of readiness and response by the involved agencies was formidable under the circumstances.

G20 Planning Model and Preparation

The planning model used by the G20 Planning Committee started with each working group being tasked with providing an Operational Plan based on their mandate. This process encouraged the early identification of constraints and opportunities within sections/units to ascertain dependencies and critical path relationships between tasks. As the latest individual operational plans were “signed-off’ by respective commanders, they were rolled into the [COMMENT1] Ottawa Police Service Master G20 Plan. The primary forum for action management of planning and preparation tasks took place during morning and afternoon staff meetings.

Intelligence indicated that some protestors that are predisposed to being violent were also trained in civil disobedience methods. During the time period of the meetings, threat assessments were continually updated based on the most contemporary information available. The Joint Intelligence Group (JIG) figured prominently in the planning of activities and in the selection of response strategies.

Planning and Preparation With External Partners

External partners and other municipal agencies such as Public Works and Traffic Engineering contributed to G20 preparations by providing individual operational plans that were synthesized into the master Ottawa Police Service G20 Operational Plan. The Ottawa Fire Department and the Emergency Medical Services resources worked in tandem with police to respond to any perceived or real hazardous materials situations.  Special attention was given to establishing the critical path of tasks and activities and to identifying the best and most accessible staging areas for partners.

Roles and Responsibilities

Specific roles and responsibilities for members of the Ottawa Police Service were developed within the respective sections and working groups as documented in their respective Operational Plans. The task of harmonizing roles, responsibilities, and key processes was the responsibility of the G20 Planning Committee. The division of tasks among members of the Service matched the training, skills and abilities of officers and civilians with the tasks of the day.

The Joint Public Order Unit (JPOU) officers assumed the role of primary response to situations where protestor misconduct and criminal behaviour within the perimeter came to light. Use of force options were applied in a gradual, measured response according to the circumstances of the moment. Personal use of force options were to be exercised per Ottawa Police Service policy. Chemical agents and less than lethal use of force options were deployed according to a protocol derived from the perspectives of the leaders of: the Public Order Units, the Tactical and Explosives Units, Incident Commanders and the Steering Committee.

Considerable effort was required to harmonize the roles of Public Order Unit officers from the Ontario Provincial Police, RCMP and Metropolitan Toronto Police Service and protocols were agreed upon by the respective commanders. Members of the Ottawa Police Service who would not normally be engaged in holding the ‘no access’ perimeter during a public order conflict were deployed to control the ‘restricted access’ perimeter and perform other tasks. ‘No vehicle’ areas were controlled by traffic officers.

Communication, Command and Control

The command structure and lines of communication were made up of Executive-level officers from the three primary police agencies; namely the Ottawa Police Service, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).

The RCMP was the lead agency for Internationally Protected People. The Ottawa Police Service was the lead agency for Public Order and members of the Metropolitan Toronto Police and OPP were secondary Public Order Units under the direction of the lead agencies.

Unusually heavy loads on radio systems and information technology supports were accommodated by streaming requests for information and action via the Unified Command Centre and minimizing radio air traffic during the events.

This was intended to foster more stream-lined coordination of mission-critical operations while minimizing the strain on operational supports.

Sharing Best Practices & Benchmarks with Public Safety Partners

Police officers and officials from outside agencies attended the G20 meetings to observe methods and strategies and share insights gathered from across North America. Adopted strategies and responses were based on the latest information received and bench-marking took place with materials and event plans from similar events in Washington, D.C. and San Diego, California. In addition, extensive consultations took place with The FBI Incident Commander Group at Quantico Virginia.

Results of G20 Internal Operational Review

On January 3rd, 2002, an Operational Review of G20 was held with thirty-nine senior members of the Ottawa Police Service in attendance from a variety of sections. This process was the culmination of a number of debriefings and consultations that had already taken place at various levels internally and externally.

Prior to holding the January 3rd Operational Review, each of the affected areas had been directed to conduct briefings with all levels of staff that worked the G20 and written submissions were forwarded to the Incident Commander. Externally, members conducted formal and informal debriefings with strategic partners including senior officers from other police agencies, involved Public Order Units and members of the business community to identify what went well and what could be improved. The results of those meetings formed the basis of a number of the presentations that were shared at the Operational Review.

The following is a brief overview of the outcomes of the Operational Review that was held on January 3rd, 2002. A detailed report with analysis of the written submissions is being forwarded to Executive Command under separate cover.

Communications

Seventeen recommendations were advanced to improve methods of communication. The majority of recommendations focused on procedures and hardware for radios. Several overlapped with ten recommendations for Public Education and internal mechanisms for communicating aspects of the Operational Plan and logistics.

Traffic Control

Four recommendations were made in relation to barriers and assignment of personnel.

Policy and Procedures

Six recommendations were made in relation to changes of current guidelines for the Public Order Unit and new or evolving less than lethal Use of Force options. Six recommendations were also made regarding guidelines and amendments to procedures for arrest, search and seizure in crowd control situations.

Training and Equipment

Three recommendations were made in relation to new or improved equipment for officer safety in Crowd Control situations. An additional eight recommendations were made for enhanced training. Two recommendations were advanced to deal with the collection and handling of seized property and videotaped evidence.

Command and Control

Seven recommendations were made to improve Command and Planning processes. The majority relate to operational supports for the Incident Commanders and the range of input into the planning process.

Logistics

There were twenty-one recommendations advanced to deal with logistics including the implementation of a permanent staffing position for a logistics officer within the Public Order Unit. The range of recommendations was from accommodations for outside agencies at local hotels and meal service to locations for personnel assignments inside and outside of the perimeter.

Response to the Proposed Citizens’ Review Panel

In an average year, the Ottawa Police Service handles about 700 demonstrations. Most are small and draw little attention. What made the G20/International Monetary Fund/World Bank Meetings different was the presence of groups who indicated that their intentions were to disrupt the meetings themselves. Police responded to the threat by deploying lawful tactics whose purpose and context may have been misunderstood by persons present. As there will be future meetings in Ottawa, there is a clear need to enter into discussions with demonstrators in an attempt to develop a protocol which would help guide police action and inform protest groups.

We have a long tradition of working with protest groups and demonstrators and the Ottawa Police Service is intent on continuing to build a relationship with legitimate protest groups and community leaders to establish a process that facilitates meaningful dialogue. The longer term goal of such a process would be the establishment of a mutual understanding which would ensure a better result for all concerned parties in future major events.

There have been informal discussions to explore the purpose and mandate of the proposed Citizen’s Review Panel to try and find a fit between existing systems for police accountability and what has been proposed by some who have made representations to the Police Services Board at the meetings of November 28th, 2001 and December 17th, 2001. The Terms of Reference for the Panel have not yet been finalized and the Chief and the Executive will communicate with the panelists asking for their support in developing an opportunity for dialogue between police and demonstrators.

Any review of police conduct must be done in accordance with Part V of the Police Services Act. Therefore, while the Police Service is committed to discussing protocols and procedures, we can only engage in a conduct investigation according to Part V of the Act. Should that occur, the Police Service will respond through that formal and established process.

CONCLUSION

The Ottawa Police Service is challenged with balancing the rights of activists and freedom of expression under the Charter with the security requirements of host agencies. The balance must be struck with a caveat that the safety of citizens, our members, other responding emergency services and property are paramount to any security intervention being considered.

This report and subsequent actions by the Project Team are being initiated as a measure to ensure that the Ottawa Police Service continues to provide the highest quality of policing services at future major events. In pursuit of this commitment, the organization has conducted an Operational Review of G20 and examined best practices. The process has yielded a number of recommendations that are destined for implementation.

Over the next six weeks, public community consultations aimed at enhancing police response to major events will take place within the three Divisions. Effective and meaningful public consultation is crucial to the achievement of the mission of the Police Service and encourages an open and responsive relationship with communities. These consultations will be conducted in accordance with the Board’s Public Consultation Policy and the results will be reported back to the Executive for appropriate action.
 

Vince Bevan
Chief of Police
 

[COMMENT1]  Ottawa Police Service G-20 Operational Plan .. is it an OPS plan, or the master G-20 Plan.