Objective
The objective of the audit was to assess whether the collaboration between the OPS and the City of Ottawa in response to the convoy protest was timely and effective in supporting each organization’s overall objectives.
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Audit of the Ottawa Police Service’s Response to the Convoy Protest – Collaboration with the City
Scope
The request for the OAG to conduct an audit of the OPS’ response to the convoy protest was a full-scope audit. However, because of other agencies performing a similar scope of work, our office chose to limit the scope of our OPS audit, at this time, to their collaboration with City of Ottawa staff prior to and during the convoy protest. Once these agencies have reported on the results of their reviews/inquiries, additional work may be conducted by my Office.
The scope of the audit did not include OPS’ collaboration with any policing agency or partner outside of the City of Ottawa.
Why we did this audit
Given the significant impact that the convoy protest had on the City of Ottawa (City) and its residents, the Auditor General accepted a request from the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB or the Board) to conduct a review of the response of the Ottawa Police Service (OPS).
What we found
The OPS and the City worked effectively together towards a common objective and each organization was able to support the other in providing resources, infrastructure, and expertise, when available.
With the benefit of hindsight, we identified opportunities for improvement in the collaboration between the two organizations to be considered in the response to future emergencies, including sharing of intelligence and plans, leveraging expertise of City staff and formalizing roles and responsibilities for communications.
We made 4 recommendations to ensure
- There is early engagement of the City’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) by OPS when the emergency has significant City impacts;
- Intelligence is shared with the City (to the extent possible and with those with the appropriate level of security clearance) on matters that have significant City impacts;
- There is active engagement with the City for integrated planning, including traffic management; and
- Roles and responsibilities for communications are formalized between the OPS and the City.