Emergency Services Unit
The Ottawa Police Emergency Services Unit (ESU) is a team made up of members from various sections across the Ottawa Police Service.
They provide a measured response with highly specialized, trained officers and equipment.
ESU deploys for planned and unplanned events and incidents, and is available 24/7, year-round.
In partnership with Ottawa Fire and Ottawa Paramedic Services, ESU's mandate is to support an emergency personnel response to various large-scale events that require a coordinated effort and significant resources.
These events include:
- ground searches for missing persons
- large-scale evidence searches
- crowd management / public order
- significantly large crime scenes to maintain perimeter control and security
- civil or natural disasters with large infrastructure, nature or human casualties, as well as providing support to a CBRNe response (Chemical Biological Radiological, Nuclear – Explosive)
Ground Search
ESU provides timely, professional, and measured responses with qualified trained search team members and search managers. ESU members search for lost or missing persons, as well as evidence, in a methodical manner with detailed search plans, which can require ground, air or water searches.
Crowd Management (Public Order Unit)
The ESU is responsible for training its members to provide a public order/crowd management response to the city of Ottawa. They train throughout the year and are equipped to respond in a quick, professional, balanced and measured manner to various incidents where significant disruption to the general public is expected, or life and/or property may be at risk as a result of the assembly of individuals.
When working in a crowd management capacity, the ESU's mission is to:
- Facilitate citizens' right to lawful demonstration and provide a safe environment for participants;
- Protect life and property;
- Preserve peace; and,
- Enforce the law
CBRNe
The CBRNe Task Force was developed as a response mechanism under the Office of Emergency Management for the City of Ottawa. ESU is trained and specially equipped to operate in certain CBRNe environments. Their primary responsibility involves perimeter control and security of the CBRNe event.