Ottawa Police are rolling out new district traffic units to address growing concerns over
speeding
and road safety across the city.
Starting this week, each district will be staffed with a sergeant and four constables, with plans to build up to seven constables to patrol high-risk streets and respond to community complaints.
These new units are part of the broader shift to a district policing structure, and were announced by Chief Eric Stubbs at last week’s council meeting.
The policing strategy focuses on building trust and reducing crime in shared responsibility with the community, not just enforcement, Stubbs said.
Stubbs emphasized that while
speed cameras
have been a useful tool in the past, the weight of addressing traffic safety now rests entirely on the police resources available. The province banned the use of speed cameras last month.
Stubbs said community feedback, gathered from residents and city councillors, played a key role in determining where these new units are most needed.
Superintendent Ken Bryden, who works within the Neighbourhood Policing Directorate, is responsible for overseeing the new traffic units. He said the units will work closely with neighbourhood and frontline officers to ensure that their efforts are strategically focused on areas with the most pressing needs.
“Those areas will remain priorities for us as police even though there are no cameras there,” he said.
From the data that they received from the public through the “#residentsmatter” campaign, Supt. Bryden says it’s not difficult to identify what is a priority for each district.
He said traffic offences happen across the city, but certain offences are more prevalent in some districts than others.
In the downtown core, issues such as distracted driving and drivers ignoring red lights and traffic signs are more common. While in the rural and suburban areas, there are more cases of stunt driving and racing.
The announcement comes just a month after the city lost its automated speed cameras. River Ward Coun. Riley Brockington highlighted the rising issue of speeding, noting that the absence of cameras has worsened the problem.
“Speeding has become an epidemic. Night-time racing is especially out of control in the summer months, and modified vehicles that disturb the peace need to be addressed,” he said. “I welcome any new resources to help address these ongoing issues on our roads.”
Stubbs acknowledged that their enforcement in one area has led to displacements, with dangerous drivers moving to other districts such as Kanata, Merivale and Riverside.
Brockington said that this summer, police targeted areas with racers like Barrhaven, which has displaced these racers into neighbourhoods in his ward, including the Airport Parkway, Hunt Club and Riverside Park, and Confederation Park.
“I have major festivals on Riverside Drive, and I have Mooney’s Bay park,” he said. “It’s only a matter of time before a kid is leaving the park, not seeing these racers come by and we’re going to have a terrible tragedy.”
Bev Johnson, the president of the Kanata Lakes Community Association, shared in a statement that she supports the new traffic units.
“I support the district traffic units newly proposed by the Ottawa Police Service as these officers will be familiar with the roads that have more accidents, are more dangerous and have more speeding and road racing. This will lead to better road safety in our community.”
Coun. Brockington said the police will not be able to address every issue on the roads, but he hopes the police improve and have a greater presence in these areas.
“I hope the creation of these new units will help,” he said.
