Service probes video that likens chief to Hitler
Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly has launched an internal investigation into what he says was a “disgusting and despicable” video that criticized him and compared him to Adolf Hitler.
Sloly made the comment in a wide-ranging interview with the Citizen in advance of his one-year anniversary of being sworn in as top cop.
The video, which depicts a scene from the movie Downfall that has been turned into a viral meme, is subtitled with captions specific to the Ottawa Police Service and Sloly's decision-making. It began circulating on social media last month and drew outrage from the police board and police chiefs in the country for targeting Sloly.
The chief himself says that his first reaction was concern for the Jewish community.
“My first reaction was, it was the eve of Rosh Hashanah, and my first reaction was this is so disgusting. How could anyone create any sort of a video that depicted Hitler and the Third Reich, that murdered millions of Jews and many, many more people that didn't fit their twisted view of a priority of races and human beings,” Sloly said.
“How could anyone choose that as a subject? And put it out for public consumption on the eve of Rosh Hashanah? I thought it was disgusting and despicable and a hugely disrespectful statement to our Jewish community here and internationally.”
Sloly said as he started to read “the word track on the bottom of it, I was disturbed that anyone would consider the subject matter of the word track as something that was relevant given the context that we've been in since George Floyd and, quite frankly, for decades before George Floyd.
“I thought that was hugely disrespectful to communities of colour, racialized communities, particularly the Black community.”
He has launched a chief's complaint, which prompted an internal investigation, but said there is no evidence that the video was created by a police officer.
“I have no idea if any member of the Ottawa Police Service or any other police service was involved in the creation or distribution of that,” Sloly said. “I know the impact that it has had on our communities and our service members — many of them were devastated by seeing it.”
Sloly said the service “would investigate any incident that affects our community and any incident that could affect the reputation of our service.
“I have no information to date that any of our members were involved in it, but it has affected our members. And so like many other videos and memes and publicly posted information that has an impact on our reputation, the trust and confidence in our organization and the trust and confidence of our members in their work environment, we have open PSS investigations. If something comes of this material, we'll pursue it, and if not, it will remain an open investigation.”
The video began circulating Sept. 17 and was shared on Twitter by an account called @DepolicingNow at 9:43 p.m. with the caption “Don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Ottawa Police 2020.”
That account was created in August. The account's bio read: “Possibly a street cop in Canada who follows the path of least resistance. Depolicing now, forever and until the day of retirement.”
Sloly said he's “grown broad shoulders and thick skin” as chief.
He said the video and whatever kind of frustration preceded it is “an indication of a society, a city and maybe a service that is resisting change, but it's an indication that change is happening.”