LOCKDOWN RUNDOWN
City police talk enforcement
Under the current stay-at-home order, Ottawans shouldn't expect to be arbitrarily pulled over or stopped on the street by police looking to question why they've left their homes, the city's deputy chief says, but don't take that to mean those in violation of the order can count on total impunity.
“Whether it's regular traffic stops, whether it's regular calls for service or interaction with the community we have, there will be some of that questioning that can and will be layered in to our general course of duties,” Ottawa police Deputy Chief Steve Bell said. “And we will continue to respond to complaints, whether it be from public health or our community about people that are violating these orders.”
The Ottawa Police Service has reviewed the stay-at-home order in effect since Thursday that requires all Ontarians to stay home save for a list of exceptions. The enforcement approach developed by police, bylaw officers and Ottawa Public Health will start with education, can escalate to warnings, “and then, in the most flagrant or the most extreme circumstances, we do revert to enforcement,” Bell said.
If police, for example, are called to a noisy party to support bylaw officers and find 20 non-residents in the house, “that's a place where you could expect to see enforcement … between bylaw and ourselves.”
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Ottawa police have had thousands of interactions with people about violations of orders that have been issued, Bell said.
In total, they've issued 29 tickets. For bylaw officers, who have primary responsibility for enforcing pandemic orders, that number is also “very low,” he said.
“You're going to see from us and bylaw and public health an enforcement stance that is really consistent with what we've had all the way through.”
No provincial orders give law enforcement the power to enter dwellings or to stop vehicles solely to check compliance with the stayat-home order, the provincial Office of the Solicitor General says. Workers also aren't required to have proof that they're travelling to or from work.
“As is the case with any law, police are encouraged to make reasonable inquiries to determine if individuals are in compliance with the orders,” a statement from the office read.
The fine for failing to follow an order is $750, and the penalty for preventing others from doing so is $1,000. But individuals can be fined up to $100,000 and jailed for up to a year.
Bell said city police won't stop people on city streets to ask what permissible purpose they're outside for.
Michael Spratt, a criminal law specialist and partner at the Ottawa law firm Abergel Goldstein & Partners, spoke critically Friday about what he views as a lack of clarity in the stay-at-home order. (The order is posted at Ontario.ca, along with a list of allowed exceptions.)
“The fact that the Ford government has drafted regulations that are broad and ill-defined is not only bad for public safety in terms of the pandemic,” Spratt said. “That type of shifting of discretion in terms of enforcement to the police puts the police … in a bad situation because they don't know the precise scope and limit of their authority.
“And it puts the public in a bad situation because that is ripe for police abuse, and the communities that feel that abuse the most are racialized communities, homeless communities, individuals with mental health and people with other vulnerabilities.”
Asked about the concern that the room for officer discretion will result in stay-at-home enforcement unfairly targeting racialized and other marginalized groups, Bell said, “I absolutely understand the concern within certain communities.
He said there has been an effort to educate officers about “when is the appropriate time to escalate to enforcement.”
There's a pandemic support team, Bell said, that can answer officers' questions about any aspect of the order.
“We've worked very hard to equip our officers with all the information they need to properly manage and enforce it.”