Open Lines is an enhanced approach the Ottawa Police Service has adopted to work with organizers of all large public events to make them safer and more successful for everyone.

I am writing to invite you to meet the officers who will be working with the community on this approach for demonstrations in Ottawa linked to the meetings of G8 heads of government at the end of June.

The Major Events Liaison Team will hold weekly open meetings every Tuesday during the month of June, at Lansdowne Park located at 1015 Bank Street, Ottawa Ontario. They are:

June 4 ,2002 7:00 p.m. Assembly Hall
June 11, 2002 7:00 p.m. Salon 'A'
June 18 ,2002 7:00 p.m. Assembly Hall
June 25, 2002 7:00 p.m. Assembly Hall

The purpose of these meetings will be:
- to build shared understanding and mutual expectation between police and demonstration organizers concerning the nature and objectives of events and how officers will police them;
- to contribute to the success of events by providing advice and support to organizers in obtaining venue permits, march route selection and other event logistics.

Our team is already hard at work preparing for the 08 meetings. We are contacting various groups in the community and exploring resources that might be made available to event organizers.

The Liaison Team will work with you before, during and after the G8. And, we’ll be accessible around the clock as we approach June 26. During the G8 events, Liaison Team officers will be on site and visible. Our role will be to make sure plans we develop together are respected and that lines of communication are kept open at all times. After G8, we will be holding de-briefing sessions that will be open to all.

The Ottawa Police Service is committed to the Open Lines approach. Our specialized and dedicated team of liaison officers will work with event organizers after the 08 has come and gone. We want to build long-term relationships that will pay off in better, safer events and demonstrations.

We hope you will be available to join us on June 4th. We realize that scheduling is difficult and that planning for some G8 events is already well underway. We are pleased to hear from you by phone, fax or email and open to alternative arrangements.

Sincerely,

The Major Events Liaison Team (Open Lines)
Inspector Rick Murphy
Sergeant Peter Couillard
Sergeant Claude Parent
Senior Constable Lynne Turnbull
Constable Bob Arbour

Phone: (613) 236-1222, ext. 5471
Fax: (613) 760-8095
Email: openlines@ottawapolice.ca