Help! Police!

Police Oversight in Ottawa: Who Answers for What — and Where Are the Numbers?

Tuesday, 4 August 2026

The Ottawa Police Service Chief is hired by the Ottawa Police Service Board, not the Province. The Chief answers to the Board on both fiscal and operational policy. Day-to-day operations and investigations remain with the Service itself. Public complaints about officer misconduct go to the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA). The Board’s biggest lever is the power to hire — and, if necessary, remove — the Chief.¹

The Board has seven members: the Mayor (or designate), two City councillors appointed by Council, one citizen representative appointed by Council, and three provincial appointees. The Mayor and Council therefore appoint the majority. That structure matters.²

In 2021, then-Board Chair Diane Deans pushed for a closer look at cost efficiencies, including outside analysis. She was later removed from the Board by Council in February 2022 during the convoy crisis. The question of a thorough, independent review of business operations and efficiencies did not disappear with her.³

The 2026 police budget delivered a 5% tax-levy increase — the largest in years — producing a net operating budget of roughly $415 million and a $26 million base increase. Even with that, the Service has flagged ongoing pressures, targeted efficiencies of about $4.3 million, and mid-year deficit projections in the $20-million-plus range driven by overtime, benefits, fuel, and other costs. Capital projects have also seen significant escalations; soil conditions and delays on the Barrhaven station alone pushed contingencies higher by millions.⁴

Going over budget on facilities or operations does not, by itself, prove mismanagement. But it does raise a basic accountability question: for how many years have pressures and overruns been the pattern, and what independent analysis of service delivery, span of control, administrative overhead, and alternatives has been published and acted on?

Civilian oversight is deliberately limited. The Board sets direction, appoints the Chief, and approves the budget request that ultimately reaches Council. It does not run investigations or daily operations. That separation is intentional under the Community Safety and Policing Act. The practical result is that when the Service releases information, or when discipline statistics are incomplete or slow to surface, the public has limited tools beyond asking the Board to demand better data or, ultimately, change leadership.

Misconduct cases — including sexual harassment and related workplace issues — continue to surface. Discipline occurs. Officers have forfeited pay. Some have left. The Chief has publicly addressed patterns of unacceptable behaviour. Yet clear, consistent, multi-year public statistics on complaints filed, findings of misconduct, repeat issues, and outcomes (discipline versus termination) remain thinner than they should be. “We take it seriously” is not a substitute for published trends that show whether the problem is increasing, stable, or declining.⁵

Figure 1: Ottawa Police Service Professional Standards — Public vs Internal Complaints, 2023–2025.
Sources: OPS Professional Standards Unit reports to the Board (2024 & 2025 annual data). Internal numbers rose sharply in 2024–2025 largely due to automated speed enforcement and driving-related detections.⁶

The same principle applies to the budget. A 5% increase accompanied by efficiency language is not the same as a transparent, independent examination of cost drivers, staffing models, overtime practices, and opportunities for non-police responses where they make sense. An outside consultant with deep experience in large-service operations and cost control — preferably from outside the local ecosystem — is still a reasonable request.

You cannot manage what you will not measure. That applies to road repairs, transit reliability, and it applies to policing. Residents deserve clear lines of accountability, published metrics on both performance and conduct, and a budget process that surfaces trade-offs instead of absorbing them as inevitable.

The Board has the structural authority. Council controls the final tax dollars. The Chief runs the Service. The public is left to judge results. Those results need better numbers attached to them.

— Peter Karwacki, PMP
Candidate for Ward 13 (Rideau-Rockcliffe)
peterkarwacki.overbrook@gmail.com

This time around, inform yourselves, vote differently, vote wisely.

References

1. Ottawa Police Service leadership and governance materials; Community Safety and Policing Act, 2019 (in force April 2024).
2. Ottawa Police Service Board composition under the CSPA (seven-member board: Mayor/designate, two Council members, one citizen appointee by Council, three provincial appointees).
3. CBC News and Ottawa Citizen reporting on the February 2022 Council vote removing Chair Diane Deans during the convoy crisis; contemporaneous Board and Council records.
4. 2026 Ottawa Police Service Draft and Approved Budget documents (5% tax-levy increase, net operating ~$414.9 million); mid-2026 Board finance reports noting projected deficits; Barrhaven station project updates on soil-related contingency increases.
5. OPS Chief public statements and Board meetings (2025–2026) addressing workplace misconduct patterns; Professional Standards Unit reporting to the Board.
6. Professional Standards Unit 2024 and 2025 annual reports presented to the Ottawa Police Service Board (public complaints: 330 in 2023, 290 in 2024, 372 in 2025; internal complaints: 375 in 2023, 783–784 in 2024, 901 in 2025). Driving-related detections account for a large share of the internal increase.

i

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