Measuring the Impact of CORE: Kaira Theos on the Power of Proactive Policing

When the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) introduced the Community Outreach Response and Engagement (CORE) initiative, the vision was clear—reduce violent crime in high-priority areas through consistent, proactive foot patrols and build stronger relationships with the people who live and work there.

For Kaira Theos, Research Analyst in the OPS Crime Intelligence Analysis Unit, the question was: Is it working?

“My work focused on the impact of foot patrols on more violent crimes,” Theos explained. “We wanted to understand how placing officers on foot in these hotspots would influence both crime patterns and how the community interacts with police.”

Her recent report compared two identical 300-day periods—August 6, 2023 to June 1, 2024 (before CORE) and August 6, 2024 to June 2, 2025 (first 300 days of CORE). The results tell a powerful story:

• Citizen-Initiated Calls across all eight hotspots decreased by 30.12%, suggesting a possible reduction in public demand for reactive police services.
  
  

• Officer-Initiated Calls increased by 52.04%, indicating greater proactive enforcement activity with officers present and engaging directly.
  
  

“These numbers show a shift,” said Theos. “With CORE, officers are more often in the position to identify and address issues before they escalate—rather than waiting for a call to come in.”

Theos’ work builds on a strong foundation of research, mapping, and community feedback. Her methodology combined detailed crime and call data with targeted community surveys to assess both statistical outcomes and public perceptions. The result is a clearer picture of how proactive policing can influence safety, trust, and visibility.

While the early data is promising, Theos emphasizes that CORE is more than numbers. “Hotspot policing is most effective when grounded in theory, driven by data, and supported by community trust.”

As a Research Analyst in Crime Analysis, Theos supports strategic and operational initiatives within OPS through data-driven research and analysis.

The analyst in this new role produces quarterly and strategic-level reports, conducts research projects, and analyzes crime trends to inform decision-making across districts.

“I attend key meetings to provide analytical insights, assist with specialized data queries, and support intelligence efforts through collaboration with Crime Intelligence Analysts,” she described.”My work is grounded in the principles of evidence-based policing, helping ensure that strategies and resource deployment are informed by reliable data and research.”

With the CORE initiative still evolving, ongoing monitoring will help refine the strategy and keep it responsive to community needs. For Theos, that means more data, more analysis, and—most importantly—more conversations with the people at the heart of these neighbourhoods.

“Proactive policing is about being ahead of the problem,” she said. “When officers are walking those streets every day, they’re not just preventing crime—they’re building the kind of relationships that make communities stronger.”