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Nine executive directors of assault and rape support centres, shelters for people fleeing abuse and other organizations want to know how the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) and its oversight board plan to restore public trust after multiple reports of alleged and founded sexual violence and harassment involving the force’s members.
Interval House, Immigrant Women Services, Nelson House, Counselling and Family Service Ottawa, the Sexual Assault Support Centre, CALACS francophone d’Ottawa, the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre, Harmony House and Maison d’Amitie sent a joint letter to the force and the Ottawa Police Service Board Monday.
They’ve asked for a meeting with police Chief Eric Stubbs and a board representative to discuss their concerns and questions.
Those questions include:
Has the force, or will it, review intimate partner and sexual violence investigations that were “conducted, supervised, or significantly influenced by officers who are now facing allegations related to sexual violence, intimate partner violence, harassment, or gender-based misconduct?”What “independent oversight” exists for complaints involving OPS members?Which recommendations from a 2021 workplace culture and policy review were implemented, which remain outstanding, and how have they informed the response by OPS to the current allegations?How were they evaluated, and “what evidence exists that they resulted in meaningful and sustained organizational change?”How will the force “ensure that survivors who seek help today can have confidence that they will be met with professionalism, respect, and trauma-informed care?”How will the force “ensure the confidentiality and privacy of survivors” in light of “unauthorized database searches by officers?”
Keri Lewis, executive director of Interval House, which offers shelter and support services for women and children fleeing abuse, is one of the leaders who signed the letter to Stubbs and the police board. (Jean Delisle/CBC)’Profound consequences when survivors lose confidence’
“We see first-hand the courage it takes to disclose abuse, seek help, and navigate systems that often feel inaccessible, unresponsive, or unsafe,” reads the letter, signed by the executive directors to Stubbs and the police board.
“We also see the profound consequences when survivors lose confidence in those systems.”
Recent reports involving Ottawa police members include allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment made by college students against a sergeant who died by suicide in March, and an allegation of sexual assault against Ottawa police union president Matthew Cox currently being investigated by Ontario’s police watchdog.
They also include allegations of intimate partner violence and officers searching databases for information about women they’re attracted to.
An Ottawa police superintendent, Mark Patterson, is also facing disciplinary charges for allegedly using his position to inappropriately influence the recruitment process, entering into an unprofessional intimate relationship with a candidate participating in the recruitment process and engaging in a sexual act with a member of the public without her consent.
The hearing for Patterson — who has been suspended since June 2022 — has not yet been scheduled.
Suspended Supt. Mark Patterson, seen here in 2018, previously faced criminal charges for allegedly grooming and sexually assaulting a female recruit, but they were withdrawn last year after the complainant was no longer interested in participating in the criminal process. He is now facing internal disciplinary charges related to the allegations. (Kristy Nease/CBC)Public update from police expected Monday
Stubbs and other members of the executive command are expected to give an update and take questions from the police board at a public meeting on June 22.
It follows a special in-camera meeting the board held in late May with Stubbs and other police leaders in response to CBC’s recent coverage.
In a news release last month, the board said it “made it clear” to brass at the in-camera meeting “that sexual harassment, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and gender-based misconduct are unacceptable and have profound impacts on survivors, workplaces, and communities.”
In the letter sent Monday to Stubbs and the board, the shelters and support centres wrote that the community requires “a comprehensive, measurable, and transparent strategy” to address the police force’s systemic problems.
The board must also “must play an active role in ensuring accountability, monitoring progress, and publicly reporting on outcomes,” the letter said.
“The community deserves clear answers.”
From left to right, Ottawa Police Service Board chair Salim Fakirani, Chief Eric Stubbs, and Deputy Chief and chief administrative officer Steve Bell deliver the force’s draft budget in 2024. (Francis Ferland/CBC)
In a sit-down interview with CBC last week, Stubbs said inappropriate workplace behaviour is a “very difficult” issue to combat in policing specifically, and that “if there was a model, if there was a program that existed [to end it], we’d all be doing it, right?… It would go across the country like wildfire.”
He said he’s impressed that the force has repeatedly invested money in workplace safety audits and recommendations over the past decade “to fix things in an organization that needs some fixing when it comes to this work and this behavior.”
“It’s a living process to get better. But we take it very seriously. We are investing a lot of time, a lot of people, funding in the past to try to address this. And we’ll continue to do so until we get to a level where we’re comfortable with our process. That yes, what we’ve got, it’s not perfect, but it’s as good as it’s going to get,” Stubbs added.