LETTERS OF COMMENDATION

SINCE MARCH 2007 BOARD MEETING

Date Received: 07 January 2007

From: Member of the Public

OPS Member: Cst. Robert Kennedy

Excerpts from Letter:

I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Constable Robert Kennedy, for the efficient and professional manner with which he handled the reporting of my recent traffic accident. His consideration and kindness are very much appreciated.

Date Received: 30 January 2007

From: Member of the Public

OPS Member: Cst. Russell Lucas

Excerpts from Letter:

I would like to express my appreciation of Constable Russell Lucas. Earlier today my wife was involved in a car accident, and Constable Lucas was the reporting officer. I am impressed with the personable and efficient manner that Constable Lucas undertook his task. He was friendly but effective, and explained the situation and the process to us clearly. We appreciate and respect him for this, and we are proud to have police constables like him serving our city. Please convey my sincere thanks to Constable Lucas.

Date Received: 31 January 2007

From: Sharon O'Neil

OPS Members: Sgt. Marc Benson, Sgt. John Crozier, Sgt. Brian Mieske, Cst. Chris Warren, Cst. Amerjit Sahota, Cst. lan Hayes, Cst. Dan Jesty, Cst. Russ Lucas, Cst. Shawn Lowell, Cst. Alain Cammaert, Cst. Mike Compton, Cst. Marc Daviault

Excerpts from Letter:

On 28 October 2006, our father, Lawrence O'Neil, passed away after a yearlong battle with cancer. He was a simple, proud, hard working man all of his life, who possessed a deeply held respect for men and women in uniform, be they military or police. He was, of course, very proud of his daughter Cst. Maureen O'Neil, and son-in-law, Sgt. Chris Kiez, and their role with the Ottawa Police Service. For our father's funeral, arrangements were made by Sgt. Marc Benson of the Traffic Escort Section to have a traffic escort from St. Patrick's Cathedral on Kent Street to Pinecrest Cemetery. Since there were a number of out-of-town relatives in attendance, the escort was greatly appreciated. The day my father was taken to the cemetery was a bright, sunny and crisp November 1^st. The Traffic Escort Unit moved our funeral cortege effectively and with great style. As we arrived at the entrance to the cemetery, a number of the officers could clearly be seen rushing to dismount their motorcycles in order to be part of the blue line of saluting officers, paying stern and unwavering respect to each and everyone of us as we turned into the cemetery. There were many of us who had managed not to break down crying during the service, who did so then, moved by the compassion and dignity communicated by that simple gesture. On behalf of the entire O'Neil family, I wish to thank the Ottawa Police Service, and the officers of the escort specifically, for the touch of grace and class they added to the very last chapter of our father's life.

Date Received: 31 January 2007

From: Kevin Phillips, Executive Director, Canadian Emergency Management College

OPS Member: Insp. Pat Flanagan

Excerpts from Letter:

I am writing to express my appreciation to you for enabling the Canadian Emergency Management College to benefit from the support of Patrick Flanagan on our combined Emergency Site Management (ESM), and Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Management courses throughout 2006. The ESM course trains emergency response personnel in management techniques required to coordinate a multiple agency response to a serious emergency or disaster. The EOC course trains senior level decision makers who have an assigned role in an emergency operations centre. The courses include three disaster simulation exercises that largely depend for their success on the assistance of various experts in the emergency field. Mr. Flanagan's knowledge and expertise has allowed us to employ him as a Police Service Coach. We continue to receive positive comments from the course participants, who frequently comment that the best part of the program is the mentoring and coaching throughout the simulations.

Date Received: 01 February 2007

From: Chief Vince Bevan

OPS Members: Cst. Trevor Woods, Cst. Arun Daniels, Cst. Carlos Zapata, Cst. Steve Boucher

Excerpts from Letter:

On January 3, 2007, officers from West Division and Tactical were involved a dramatic and ultimately tragic incident involving Mr. James Barber. On the day in question Mr. Barber became involved in an altercation with another man while in a vehicle on Greenbank Road. Barber produced a knife and slashed the man, almost cutting off one of his fingers. The two ended up in a taxicab. At one point, on Merivale Road at Trenton Avenue, the taxi driver and the other man fled the cab leaving Barber in the rear seat with the knife. As attending officers surrounded the vehicle, Barber stabbed himself in the leg, and then drove the knife through his eyeball inflicting very serious injuries as a result. He was transported to hospital where he underwent surgery. Unfortunately, the injury was too severe and Mr. Barber passed away. I wish to commend Constables Trevor Woods, Arun Daniels and Carlos Zapata for their actions that day, including the textbook use of tactical communication in attempts to get Mr. Barber to drop the knife and surrender. They kept talking to the subject, and showed excellent restraint, despite the fact that Barber was armed and would not comply with commands to drop the weapon. I also want to commend Tactical Constable Steve Boucher who moved in, opened the door of the vehicle, and incapacitated Barber with a Taser gun. Barber was then subdued and transported to the hospital. All the officers involved acted with the utmost professionalism in a very demanding situation, making every reasonable effort to prevent Mr. Barber from harming himself and others. A letter from the Director of the Special Investigations Unit dated January 29th lauds the officers involved for their actions.

Date Received: 14 February 2007

From: Chief Vince Bevan

OPS Members: Sgt. Stu Donaldson, Sgt. Murray Robinson, Cst. Admir Minarolli, Cst. Gary Smith and Cst. Hak Taing, Kim Stuurop

Excerpts from Letter:

In the early morning of January 12th, a distraught young man, with a history of mental health issues, became suicidal. He was in the garage of his residence with a knife and a crossbow. There were other family members in the residence, sleeping. He called 911. Kim Stuurop was the Communications Clerk who responded. She heard him talk about harming himself and about getting police to shoot him. She heard comments that gave her concern for the other family members. In his decision, following the S.I.U. investigation, the Director of the Special Investigations Unit made the observation that “Kim Stuurop carried out her duties with great skills and understanding, managing to delay this man's actions and keeping him relatively calm”. While Kim kept the male on the line, Sgt. Stu Donaldson, Sgt. Murray Robinson, Cst. Admir Minarolli, Cst. Gary Smith and Cst. Hak Taing were determining his location, making their way to him, and ensuring the safety of the other family members. When they reached the male, he had just shot himself with the crossbow. He had also cut himself with the knife. He is alive today thanks to these Ottawa Police members. The Director of the S.I.U. noted that “the responding officers acted promptly and with obvious compassion and concern for this man.” I wish to commend the Supervisors, Constables and 911 Call Taker for their actions and for the professionalism they each displayed while handling this very demanding call.

Date Received: 23 February 2007

From: Member of the Public

OPS Member: Cst. Jeff Gulick

Excerpts from Letter:

Let me begin this letter by expressing on behalf of my family, our heart felt thanks to your Detective Jeff Gulick. He has gone above and beyond his scope of duties to take on a problem that we have been trying to live with for going on two years now. My niece has had to endure for almost two years, untold abuse from her ex because we were unable to convince anyone at the courthouse that a Restraining Order was necessary to keep him away. The reason they gave for not issuing one was that since his name was still on the mortgage for the house they had resided in before their split, they could not issue this order. When I was finally able to get in touch with Detective Gulick and go over everything with him, give him the tapes and all the information, he investigated the situation and assured me that something would finally be done to stop the continual stalking, sexual/psychological/physical abuse and telephone threats being perpetrated upon her. True to his word, the next time she had to call 911 because of the abuse, Detective Gulick had already alerted the system and this man was arrested and a Restraining Order was finally issued against him. Since then my niece and her children have finally found some peace. She is no longer afraid to go outside in case he is there. She doesn't have to be constantly looking over her shoulder in case he is parked somewhere watching the house. Her children have calmed down substantially, although they will both require some counselling to get over what they have already been exposed to because of this man. She is no longer receiving 20 to 30 threatening and abusive calls at all times, day and night. She no longer has to worry that he will show up, break through the door and begin abusing her again. For all of my family this is such a relief, I cannot begin to describe how much stress has been alleviated because of Detective Gulick's actions in this matter. Although we still have a long way to go, court hearings, etc., with his support behind her, my niece will handle this much easier. He is certainly a credit to the Ottawa Police Department and you should be very proud to call him one of your own!!!!

Date Received: 27 April 2007

From: Member of the Public

OPS Member: S/Sgt. Sgt. Tim Halderson, Cst. Abe Kaazan

Excerpts from Letter:

Last Saturday, the 21st April, I had the opportunity to participate in a ride-along with A Platoon East, out of Leitrim Road. I had the pleasure of being placed with Cst. Abe Kaazan for the afternoon shift. Cst. Kaazan is a commendable member of OPS, conducting himself with honesty and respect for those around him. Cst. Kaazan’s platoon-mates also exemplified Ottawa Police’s values in their dealings that evening. I learned a lot during my ride-along, and it served to further my interest in pursuing policing as a career. In all of my dealings with Ottawa Police, I can’t imagine a better group of people to work with. There have been so many people within Ottawa Police who have helped me tremendously so far – the list would be longer than this page! Maybe one day I will get to properly thank them all. Please pass along my comments to Cst. Kaazan and his platoon-mates, as well as to Staff Sgt. Tim Halderson who has been an invaluable resource of information and help to me.

Date Received: 02 May 2007

From: Janet Gorman, Chief, Intelligence & Enforcement Division, Ottawa-Northern Ontario Region, Canada Border Services Agency

OPS Members: Sgt. Roley Campbell, Cst. Martin Groulx, Cst. Eric Post, Cst. Rob Corzato, Cst. Eric Beaurivage, Cst. Serge Fortin, Cst. Jeremy House, Cst. Hussein Assad

Excerpts from Letter:

On behalf of the Canada Border Services Agency, I would like to offer my sincere appreciation and gratitude to you and the Neighbourhood Officer (NHO) team who assisted during the closing of 120 Flora Avenue (bawdyhouse) as well as those who assisted during a recent project requiring 48 hours of surveillance. Thanks as well to Cst. Martin Groulx for bringing the potential collaboration to our attention. The input and insight from all these officers proved to be extremely valuable. Having Ottawa Police Service present and engaged in this activity allowed the operation to run smoothly and as a team we were able to explore avenues previously not available to us. Again. I would like to express my appreciation to all team members of Ottawa Police Service and the NHO involved.

Date Received: 8 May 2007

From: Acting Deputy Chief Knowlton Roberts

OPS Members: Sgt. Tim Merriman, Sgt. Sam Hill, Cst. Michael Adlard, Cst. Randy Stockdale along with his dog Sniper, Cst. Benoit Dallaire, Cst. Chris Dziunikowski and Cst. Kevin Williams, Marc-André Pressault, Darlene Senechal, Guy Bordeleau

Excerpts from Letter:

In the early morning hours of Monday May 6^th, the Communications Centre received calls of a man with a gun on the grounds of CHEO. Officers were immediately dispatched. It was quickly determined that an active shooter situation existed and that the suspect had entered the nearby Rotel. The Rotel is a hotel for the families of out-of-town patients in Ottawa area hospitals. Utilizing Immediate Action Rapid Deployment (IARD) tactics, one contact team was formed shortly followed by a second contact team. Contact Team 1, consisting of three officers, entered the Rotel and began a search. They quickly tracked down the suspect in a second floor closet. They engaged him in tactical communications until relieved by members of the Tactical Team who continued to communicate with the suspect until he surrendered himself. No injuries were sustained by any member of the public or OPS officer. I wish to commend all Patrol and Tactical officers who attended the scene particularly the members of the Contact Teams. Contact Team 1 consisted of Sgt. Tim Merriman, Cst. Michael Adlard and Cst. Randy Stockdale along with his dog Sniper. Contact Team 2 was Sgt. Sam Hill, Cst. Benoit Dallaire, Cst. Chris Dziunikowski and Cst. Kevin Williams. I also want to commend the team in the Communications Centre who handled the call with the utmost professionalism, dispatcher Marc-André Pressault along with clerks Darlene Senechal and Guy Bordeleau, supported by all those working in the Communications Centre during the incident. I am certain that the quick and decisive actions of all the officers on scene, supported by the team in the Communications Centre, help to forestall what could easily have become a most tragic incident. Congratulations to all for a job well done, the emphasis of the training was immediate and a team response. These actions speak widely to the need and success of the IARD program.

Date Received: 10 May 2007

From: Member of the Public

OPS Member: Ottawa Police Service

Excerpts from Letter:

I would like to express my appreciation that the Ottawa Police Service is devoting time and resources to bicycle theft. I read that several people were charged recently following a sting operation. As a serious cyclist (and a victim of a cycle theft some time ago), I appreciate that the police are working to ensure that our preferred form of transportation is safe and secure within the city. I encourage you to continue such activities as well as enforcing traffic and safety rules for cyclists and for motorists.

Date Received: 20 May 2007

From: Member of the Public

OPS Member: Ottawa Police Service

Excerpts from Letter:

As one of the Sens fans and young women that celebrated yesterday's victory on 'Red Mile' Elgin Street I wanted to thank the Ottawa Police Service for the work they did. My friends and I walked the street and have never felt so safe downtown. We found the constables were very professional and courteous. Go Sens Go! Thank-you.