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Throughout its history, Ottawa Police has valued the work of volunteers
Posted on Wednesday, September 06, 2017 03:30 AM
By Dawson Hebert-Arsenault, September 2017
(with records from A History of the Ottawa Police by Gilles Larochelle)
At one time, policing in Ottawa was handled entirely by volunteers. These were good-willed members of the community who supplemented their daily labour with police work at night.
In the beginning, Bytown was a brutish logging town that was feared across North America. There was a large group of labourers in the area working on Colonel By's Rideau Canal. These men would take to...
Paving Scam still present in Ottawa
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2017 11:30 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, July 14, 2017 3:30pm
(Ottawa) — The Ottawa Police Service Organized Fraud Unit continues to investigate paving scams in Ottawa. Last year, investigators warned Ottawa residents about this scam. Investigators are again reaching out to the community with the same message.
Complaints have been received from people who have “hired” paving contractors who come to the door, with promises of an inexpensive paving job for their lane. No paperwork is exchanged, a verbal...
Prisoners faced harsh conditions at the Nicholas Street Jail
Posted on Friday, July 07, 2017 03:30 AM
By Lysia Filotas, July 2017
Before Ottawa's first jail became a hostel, it was housed in the basement of the city's new courthouse, on property donated by prominent landholder Nicholas Sparks.
In response to years of criticism about a lack of space in the existing jail, the Nicholas Street Jail, designed by architect Henry Horsey, began operating in 1862.
Although the three-and-a half-storey building was designed to be imposing, prisoners were more intimidated by the appalling living conditions...
Ottawa Police 2016 Annual Report, now available
Posted on Wednesday, June 21, 2017 11:15 AM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, June 21, 2017 3:17pm
(Ottawa)—The Ottawa Police Service’s (OPS) 2016 Annual Report was released today as part of the June 26th meeting of the Ottawa Police Services Board agenda. “This report highlights the work the members of the OPS do every day to keep our community safe,” said Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordeleau. “Policing continues to change as we adapt to many issues facing our society. Social disorder issues continue to change. Mental health...
A look at the growth of roads in Ontario
Posted on Friday, June 09, 2017 03:15 AM
By Carol Macpherson, June 2017
Ontario's first transportation systems weren't anything like the highways we see today. Indigenous people travelled using the vast waterways; canoeing them in summer and walking across the ice in winter. This system was so practical that people like explorers and military men who came to this land followed suit.
By the early 1800s, roadways were needed to open new areas for settlement, provide the military the means to move from place to place and to cultivate...