Ottawa’s acting police chief says the force didn’t foresee how the protests that shut down the city for nearly a month last winter would weigh on residents and cause “community trauma.”
“The one thing I hear consistently after the job was removed, and quite rightly so, is that we didn’t put enough emphasis as a police service on our community and the impact it made on them in the early days “Steve. Bell testified before the Public Order Emergencies Commission on Monday.
“The anticipation of community trauma and violence in our community that occurred was not anticipated because no one saw it coming. No one knew that that was going to be the tactic that the mob that got here was really going to engage in. “.
Bell said that prior to the arrival of the convoy protest, the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) was receiving advice on how to respect the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and protect public safety while policing the protest.
But OPS intelligence did not adequately anticipate the convoy’s tactics, he said.
The commission is investigating the federal government’s use of the Emergency Act to quell protests that blocked parts of downtown Ottawa for weeks.
PAHO believed the protests would only last three days and planned them accordingly, the commission heard.
Instead, protesters entrenched themselves in the city’s core for nearly a month, blocking access to main streets and idling vehicles. The start of the protest was marked by incessant honking, until a private citizen sought a court order to silence the horns.
LOOK | ‘We accepted it’: Interim Ottawa police chief Steve Bell on the normalcy of large protests in the city
‘We accepted it’: Interim Ottawa police chief Steve Bell on the normalcy of large protests in the city
Bell says that while Ottawa police understand the city calls for large protests every year, no one was prepared for what the truck convoy brought in terms of size and timing.
“We had never taken the view of making sure that the community and the surroundings, [that] we were so sensitive to their needs,” she said.
“Now we take it into account more than ever.”
OPS “wasn’t ready,” Bell says
According to an intelligence report dated January 28 and released on Monday, PAHO’s own threat assessment predicted that large, well-funded and disruptive mobs could shut down the movement in the capital.
Bell said he and the rest of the service were under the impression that only a small number of protesters would stick around after the first weekend.
“I think we weren’t prepared for what happened,” he said.
According to the threat assessment, written on January 28, the police considered that “the convoy will be able to effectively stop and shut down the movement if desired.”
“So we expect to see a high volume of vehicles and large transport trucks clogging city roads and the ability to communicate and move truckers around may be hampered by cell saturation,” he said. the report, which was prepared before the first weekend of protests.
A woman poses for a photo in front of trucks that are part of a convoy of truckers to protest the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, January 28, 2022. (Patrick Doyle/Reuters)
“Members of the convoy appear to be stocking up on food and supplies, which would indicate they have long-term plans to stay in Ottawa.”
The protests began as a demonstration against vaccine mandates for truckers, but turned into a larger movement against the COVID-19 restrictions and the Trudeau government itself.
Ottawa police’s threat assessment said those factors would likely inspire passionate emotions among protesters. He also noted that participants had already raised millions of dollars through a GoFundMe page.
“The bottom line here is that a large number could attend the city and we accepted that,” said Bell, who served as deputy chief and oversaw intelligence, information and investigations before taking over as interim head
He said OPS expected “traffic disruptions, absolutely … but nothing to do with the activity we finally saw on our streets.”
Report concerns about firearms
The OPS intelligence unit was also pointing to the possibility that protesters with “extremist ideologies” and other instigators could take hold of the convoy’s movement.
The open-source intelligence was “revealing the occasional (and not unexpected) online instigators of lone actors, who advise others to use violence if they encounter police barricades,” the document warned.
“The open nature of this event, coupled with the high concentration of attendees, may further increase the potential appeal among certain individuals who may embrace extremist ideologies.”
The threat assessment noted that there was no critical intelligence defining “a specific plan of violence.”
A bolded point in the threat assessment cited an “increase in social media posts by users suggesting that violence should be used if the government does not recognize the convoy. No threats or credible plans.”
The report also noted that some “persons of interest” were openly talking about carrying firearms.
The threat assessment in late January asked the Ottawa Police Service to address staffing issues immediately.
Confusion about the letter
The commission also heard on Monday that police did not believe they had the legal authority to block protesters arriving from parts of the city, despite a legal opinion that told police the Bill of Rights does not protect illegal activity. ·legal in the course of a protest, such as how to stop traffic.
On January 28, the police service’s legal team produced a 15-page overview of the Bill of Rights issues involved in police protests, including the rights to freedom of expression and lawful assembly, and the ‘legal authority that the police could use during the demonstration.
The document also informed the police that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms places limits on these rights and that they do not extend to threats or acts of violence and unlawful conduct, including blocking traffic.
LOOK | A truck is not an entity protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms’: Bell
“These limits also prevent demonstrations from obstructing travel or the roads,” says the legal opinion, made public during the commission’s Monday session.
“As such, where individuals or groups do not obstruct or obstruct vehicular traffic for extended periods, they retain the right to protest to the extent that it does not involve or involve unlawful conduct.”
In an interview with the commission in late August, Bell said he “didn’t recall any discussion where OPS considered blocking vehicular access to downtown Ottawa and allowing protesters to attend downtown Ottawa only by foot”.
His predecessor as head of the OPS, Peter Sloly, who resigned on February 15, also told the commission that there were no such talks.
Former Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly is scheduled to appear before the Emergency Act inquiry on Friday. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
“Chief Sloly was not aware of any plans that would have caused OPS to completely block access to downtown Ottawa or block vehicular access to Wellington Street,” said a summary of interviews Sloly gave to the commission, which was presented on Monday.
“Chief Sloly was informed that, based on known intelligence reports, OPS did not have the legal authority to deny the Freedom Convoy access to downtown Ottawa simply because some people were not “according to the opinions of some participants”.
Sloly is expected to testify Friday.
Bell says Sloly got engaged during the run
Bell told the commission a series of announcements by Sloly as police tried to contain the protest led to “issues of trust”.
For example, he said, Sloly announced a “surge and contain” strategy to flood neighborhoods with officers to respond to events.
“While this was a great premise, there was no confirmation that it was possible,” Bell’s summary of the interview said.
Bell also said he felt police could not follow through on Sloly’s announcement that Ottawa police would seize fuel canisters from protesters.
“This should not have been announced. This was very damaging,” Bell told the commission.
Bell told the commission that PAHO was struggling with significant turnover during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Many OPS members experienced in policing demonstrations left the force during the pandemic,” says the summary of Bell’s interview with the commission.
“Interim Chief Bell stated that many of the younger members of the OPS who remained did not have experience in controlling large demonstrations.”
Bell told the commission that PAHO was struggling with high turnover during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Many OPS members experienced in policing demonstrations left the force during the pandemic,” reads the summary of his interview.
“Interim Chief Bell stated that many of the younger members of the OPS who remained did not have experience in controlling large demonstrations.”
A truck is not protected by the letter: Bell
Bell said the force has learned its lesson when it comes to vehicles and protests.
“A truck is not an entity protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. People are. That’s something we haven’t exercised before as an organization,” Bell said under questioning Monday.
“I think we have the ability and have exercised it several times since then to prevent vehicles from going down.”
On February 14, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act, which gave authorities new powers to freeze the finances of those involved in blockades and protests, ban travel to protest areas, ban people from bringing minors to illegal gatherings and ordering tow trucks.
The commission has been tasked with examining the circumstances that led to the declaration of public emergency, including police actions before and after the…