Rideau Centre storefront chosen for new Ottawa police operations centre

The Ottawa Police Service plans to move into a Rideau Centre storefront for its new operations centre in the ByWard Market.

In a report that will go before the Ottawa Police Services Board on Oct. 23, the force recommended approving a lease agreement with CF Rideau Centre for a five-year period starting Feb. 15, 2024.

The storefront, located at 50 Rideau St. across from the Rideau LRT station, would be nearly 3,000 square feet.

The lease would cost $245,944.95 plus tax for the first year of the agreement.

The police service is supporting a city-led initiative to create what it calls a "neighbourhood operations centre." Ottawa Mayor Mark Sutcliffe previously told CBC the centre is not a police station, but a place where officers would be available.

Sutcliffe campaigned on a promise to increase the police presence in the ByWard Market.

The new operations centre would give neighbourhood police officers a space to meet and collaborate with community groups in the area, the report said.

Currently, the closest locations for officers to hold those meetings are either the community police centre in Vanier or the police headquarters on Elgin Street, according to the report.

"The [Rideau] location is the centre of high activity and high population density area and would allow the [Neighbourhood Resource Team] to continue its functions with minimal downtime, while increasing their visibility throughout the day," the report said.

Community policing in Ottawa

In 2017, Ottawa police withdrew all but 14 of its 60 neighbourhood officers. Community police officers are assigned to specific neighbourhoods and work with local residents, non-profits and community groups.

The move was heavily criticized at the time, and about two years later the force announced it would restore community policing to the Vanier/Overbrook, Heron Gate and Carlington neighbourhoods.

That pilot project targeted neighbourhoods with high rates of certain types of violent crime and property crime.

Police expanded the project in 2020 to include the ByWard Market, Lowertown, Centretown and Bayshore.

Amid calls for defunding the police in July 2020, former police Chief Peter Sloly restructured the force to expand community policing, among other changes.

Some ByWard Market business owners previously told CBC they're hopeful the new operations centre will help mitigate security concerns in the area.