Summer police stings on gun violence, gangs, drugs led to 27 arrests

As investigations into the recent spate of gun violence in Ottawa's west end continue, and to assuage public concern, police held a news conference Monday about unrelated gun, drug and gang investigations that began in the summer.

Project Karma was led by the guns and gangs unit and was focused on the activities of one south-end gang believed have been responsible for a spike in gun violence prior to June. The project began in June and ran until the end of November. 

Project Kalamity was led by the drug unit. It was a spinoff of Karma, it also began in June, and it ended in August.

In total, 27 people were arrested and are facing 254 charges. Seven firearms were also seized. 

At the news conference, Insp. Chris Renwick said that because police can't confirm whether any west-end-specific investigations may be underway, it's important to let the public know what's possible.

"Obviously, with the shootings in the west end, [one] of the questions we're getting is, what are we doing? And we can talk very openly about proactively what we're doing, but on the investigative side, for obvious reasons, we can't be as forthcoming and share what we want, because of the investigations," Renwick said.

"Here we have a case where an investigation has just wrapped up, and it's important that we let the community know that there are other avenues and other focuses we have, other than the proactive side of it and being in the communities. ... And this is a prime example of the behind the scenes activities that we engage in to resolve the problems and try to lessen these shootings."