Unhappy police vent ‘frustration’ with mayor
Emails about force problems get ‘generic’ reply after four-week wait
Mayor Jim Watson responded last week to about 70 emails from police officers in an impromptu campaign by officers to convince civic leaders that comments by a veteran officer who challenged the police chief were not just the biased opinions of a disgruntled officer but reflected the feelings of many on the force.
In what officers have described as a “stock,” “generic” and “political” email, Watson said he’s not a member of the police services board but appreciated officers “taking the time to write to me.”
The replies were sent to multiple officers on Friday, four weeks after the campaign began on March 19.
Going into last month’s board meeting, Watson’s office confirmed it had received 70 emails in the campaign started on the previous weekend to support Heffler’s comments about police Chief Charles Bordeleau.
The Citizen received copies of 43 of those emails — four from civilian employees of the police service, 37 from officers, and one each from a retired officer and a community group. The emails to the mayor were sent to him in his capacity as the city’s elected leader. The majority of the emails did not suggest that Watson was a member of the police board.
“I appreciate you taking the time to write to me,” Watson said in his replies.
He then wrote that he was copying the city clerk and city lawyer “who can provide further background on the role of Ottawa Police Services Board.”
Watson signed the emails as the mayor.
Ottawa Police Association president Matt Skof told the Citizen on Tuesday that although the grassroots campaign was started by officers and not the police union, officers had been in touch with the union about Watson’s replies.
“Given that the email back to the members was generic, and did not address any of their concerns around the views expressed by the mayor, we have received many comments from our members expressing their frustration,” Skof said.
The officers’ email campaign capped a difficult week for the police service.
Const. Paul Heffler had challenged Bordeleau’s leadership in a force-wide email, writing that “There are few services and businesses that pay their employees $100,000 salaries and treat them like they are dime store security guards.”
Heffler also wrote that the force suffered from a “corrupt system.”
Both Watson, who is on a trade mission to India, and police board chair Coun. Eli El-Chantiry initially dismissed the email as not indicative of the entire force.
El-Chantiry drew a backlash when he said he supported the chief, who now is the subject of an ethics probe for his involvement in his father-in-law’s traffic ticket case, prompting the union to call for El-Chantiry’s resignation — which the chair said would not happen.
El-Chantiry, at last month’s board meeting, acknowledged that morale in the force was low after first saying he didn’t think it was an issue.
Just last week, in an interview with CFRA about wanting to download traffic direction duties to people other than officers, El-Chantiry used Heffler’s own rhetoric, saying: “We heard time and time again even from police officers ... ‘You’re paying us $100,000 and you treat us like a mall security.’ ”
The next police board meeting is on Monday evening.