Ottawa’s police chief says the service’s new downtown hub should open in late May as a multi-pronged plan to tackle social problems in the area shifts gears.
Some business owners and residents in the ByWard Market and Lowertown have complained the area is declining, and blame people stealing, asking for money and sleeping outside among the factors that led them there.
Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and Ontario Premier Doug Ford said last month the city’s downtown is less vibrant than it once was as they detailed a spending plan to change that.
Accessing that money requires a city plan to improve safety, and Chief Eric Stubbs came to Monday’s police board meeting with details of what he calls a key part of that.
Stubbs said police have taken possession of a ground-floor unit in the Rideau Centre that fronts onto Rideau Street, which will become its new “neighbourhood operations centre.”
His report frames that hub as the physical base of the five-part community outreach plan that also includes a mental health and housing outreach partnership, a community advisory board and targeted enforcement to deter crime.
The community support group of more than 30 members first met last week.
It’s focusing on the ByWard Market and Rideau Street, but can take on cases anywhere in Ottawa “to disrupt ongoing cycles of criminalization.”
“[The group is] going to look at some of the more problematic folks that we have in that area and see if they can strategize how to get them on a more positive path, be it getting a house, addictions treatment, mental health interventions to try to manage them more positively than a criminal justice system,” Stubbs told reporters before the meeting.
Stubbs said a number of programs will be formally launched around the time the hub opens.
If the model works, Stubbs said it can be used to help improve other parts of the city.