Professional Standards

The Ottawa Police Service (OPS) values public trust, and we continually strive to demonstrate a high level of duty of care when conducting our operations.

One of the ways we seek to earn public trust is by ensuring we have levels of oversight that hold our Service and our members accountable. Public complaints may be made by members of the public to the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA). The Chief of Police may also initiate internal investigations.

In addition to investigating complaints, the Professional Standards Unit (PSU) has a formal process to resolve less serious complaints through mediation, facilitated discussions, education, training and policy reviews.

These processes often foster dialogue and mutual understanding between complainants and our members and are often a more efficient means of resolving complaints.

A breakdown of complaints handled by the PSU is captured in our Annual Report.

Property Damage Claim

If you feel that the Ottawa Police Service has incurred damage to your property as a result of police actions, you may submit a claim through the City of Ottawa’s Claims Unit or the Ottawa Police Service’s Professional Standards Section as follows:

In order to submit a Property Damage Claim, a letter must be written, containing the following information:

date of claim or notification;
name, address and telephone number of the person making the claim;
date, approximate time, location and police report number (if known) of the incident giving rise to the claim;
apparent cause of the loss or damage incurred (to the extent it is known); and
nature of damage incurred (i.e. personal injury, property damage, loss of property, expenses incurred etc.);
a receipt or invoice for damage incurred.

Public Complaints Process

The Law Enforcement Complaints Agency (LECA) is a civilian arms-length agency of the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General, whose decisions are independent from the Ontario government, the police and the community. LECA is responsible for receiving, managing, and overseeing public complaints about misconduct of police officers. Complaint forms can be accessed on the LECA website, at all police stations, Service Ontario locations and at many community centres and legal clinics.

Contact LECA:

Email: leca@ontario.ca

Toll-free at 1-877-411-4773 (TTY: 1-877-414-4773)

Local phone: 416-246-7071

Inspector General of Policing

The Inspector General of Policing, supported by staff at the Inspectorate of Policing (IOP), operates at an arm’s-length from the provincial government and serves the public interest by promoting accountability in the policing sector through inspections, investigations and advisory services. In addition to other types of complaints accepted, the IOP has the authority to handle complaints about the policies and services provided by OPS. A complaint form can be accessed on the IOP website.

Contact IOP:

Email: IOPComplaints@ontario.ca

Toll-free at 1-888-333-5078
Local phone: 416-314-4130

All complaints made about special constables employed by the OPS may be sent to PSS@ottawapolice.ca. Complaints related to special constables employed by another organization must be submitted to the organization in question.

Related information:

Disciplinary Hearings and Decisions under the Police Services Act
Ontario Civilian Police Commission
Send a compliment to info@ottawapolice.ca