Ottawa Police Service Establish Integrated Command Centre to Coordinate Enforcement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Saturday, February 12, 2022   8:12pm 

(Ottawa) – Together with the OPP and the RCMP, the Ottawa Police Service today announced the establishment of an enhanced, Integrated Command Centre (ICC) in response to a significant influx of demonstrators into the Ottawa area and escalation of the current occupation.

In downtown Ottawa, over 4,000 demonstrators were present throughout the day. Safety concerns - arising from aggressive, illegal behaviour by many demonstrators - limited police enforcement capabilities.

We expect that the ICC will result in a significantly enhanced ability of our police service to respond to the current situation in our city. The ICC will allow us to make the most effective use of the additional resources our policing partners have provided to us.

In addition to the establishment of the ICC, the Ottawa Police Service provides the following update on operations for today: 

• Due to the volume of people and vehicles in the downtown core, police safely managed the movement of various convoys in and around Ottawa. One 300 vehicle convoy and a 20-kilometer long car convoy from Quebec were safely managed.
• Interception of a fuel transport into the downtown core. 
• Operationalization of the new measures announced by the Ontario Government yesterday.
• Continued planning with all levels of government to bring an end to the current occupation.

 The Ottawa Police Service will continue to provide additional operational updates as appropriate. 

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