Ottawa police report reduced crime with focused enforcement in ByWard Market, Rideau Street areas

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) says it has seen "positive" results to a new strategy to reduce crime and increase foot patrols and officer presence in high-priority areas in the downtown core.

Statistics from Ottawa police report an increase in the number of officers in the ByWard Market and Rideau Street has led to a 17.9 per cent reduction in calls for service and a 4.62 per cent reduction in crime.

Police have been targeting eight "hot spots" of "high crime concentration" areas as part of the service's new Community Outreach Response and Engagement (CORE) strategy introduced last summer. The plan is meant to increase visibility of officers and community organizations to deter crime and improve perceptions of public safety.

The plan also included a new neighbourhood operations centre in the Rideau Centre mall that opened in June.

"The current analysis shows a clear correlation between proactive policing and decreased calls for service," police said in a news release on Tuesday.

A report presented for the Ottawa Police Services Board shows the reduction in crime was not uniform to all hot spots. Rideau Street and Dalhousie Street saw a 25 per cent increase in reported crime and Rideau Street and Nelson Street saw a 24.24 per cent increase.

However, George Street and Dalhousie Street saw a 48.18 per cent decrease and Rideau Street and Sussex Drive saw a 29.03 per cent decrease.

"These varying results demonstrate the need for tailored, area-specific strategies within the overall CORE approach," the report said.

"While some hot spots have shown significant improvement, others require further analysis and adjusted tactics."

Officers recorded 972 community interactions and 21 arrests between the period of Aug. 6 and Oct. 31, the report found.

OPS says it has also made formal agreements with the Rideau Business Improvement Area (BIA) and the ByWard Market District Authority to improve safety and security infrastructure, which includes installing enhanced lighting, security cameras and the removal of certain environmental features "that may create opportunities for criminal activity."

Police say that as its implementation of the CORE strategy moves forward, it will soon start a new "focused deterrence" strategy to address "repeat offenders."

"This method combines strict law enforcement with support services for individuals at high risk of reoffending. The next phase will also include better crime analysis, strategic patrols, problem-solving policing, and more community engagement. These changes aim to address the specific issues in each hot spot by using data-driven and community-informed solutions," OPS said.

Ottawa police say that while the CORE strategy is showing improvements in crime and community safety, the city continues to face a "devastating" crisis of overdose deaths.

Ottawa Public Health (OPH) says there were 245 suspected overdose deaths in the city as of November, and Ottawa is expected to surpass the 291 suspected overdose deaths in the city in 2023. There were 194 confirmed opioid-related deaths in Ottawa in 2023, according to OPH data.

"This marks the fourth consecutive year of rising overdose deaths in the National Capital, highlighting the urgency for continued collaborative efforts to support vulnerable populations," police said.

The latest crime statistics from the Ottawa Police Service earlier this year showed an 8 per cent increase in the crime rate in the Rideau-Vanier Ward between 2022 and 2023, including a 1.7 per cent increase in violent crime and a 9.5 per cent increase in non-violent crime.

There were 42,264 calls for service in the ward in 2023.