Former Ottawa police chief 'failed miserably' to plan for occupation of downtown: retired police inspector
CTV
A retired Ottawa police inspector says the Ottawa Police Service and former Police Chief Peter Sloly made glaring errors in preparing the capital for the demonstration that has now occupied the downtown core for more than two weeks.
Patrick Flanagan says the “job of police is to plan for extreme scenarios” and Sloly didn’t do it.
“It was evident early on, with the desecration of both the Terry Fox monument and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, that passive policing was an ill-thought out strategy,” Flanagan wrote in response to a series of questions from CTV News Ottawa.
Flanagan spent 37 years on the force and was Sloly's executive officer before he retired last May. He says the police service should have been ready before the first trucks rolled into the city.
“Enforcement should have commenced day one. The plan should have also included tow trucks on standby, parked in the downtown core, the day prior to the siege. It would have sent a strong message,” Flanagan wrote.
