OK for contractor for south-end Ottawa police facility anticipated Monday

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The Ottawa Police Companies Board is predicted to approve on Monday a $115.4-million building contract for a brand new south-end facility on Prince of Wales Drive close to Lodge Highway.

A report submitted to the board by Ottawa Police Service Chief Eric Stubbs recommends the contract be awarded to Broccolini Development Inc. for the primary building of the brand new facility, which is able to substitute the Greenbank and Leitrim police stations.

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In response to the report, three pre-qualified contractors had been short-listed from an preliminary checklist of seven submissions. Broccolini was the bottom bidder to satisfy all mandatory standards. The contract features a 7.5-per-cent contingency of simply over $Eight million. The general value of the undertaking is $193.7 million.

The report additionally recommends that just about $8.7 million earmarked for different tasks be redirected to the South Facility Challenge and that, as police chief, Stubbs be given authority to award contracts and to execute funds for different project-related bills, supplied they fall throughout the general funds.

The undertaking consists of growth of eight acres, or about half of the 15-acre website at 3505 Prince of Wales Dr. It was placed on maintain in April 2021 due to larger building prices related to the COVID-19 pandemic, however was restarted earlier this 12 months. The report doesn’t point out when building would begin or be accomplished.

If authorised by the board, the advice would require metropolis council’s approval to maneuver forward.

At Monday’s assembly, the board will even be requested to approve a session strategy to hunt suggestions on using body-worn and in-car cameras and to obtain a report on police responses to mental-health calls.

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In response to one other report Stubbs will current to the board, the up to date Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) that the board authorised for buy in February embody in-car cameras with video and audio capabilities that may very well be used together with body-worn cameras to document interactions between officers and motorists. Earlier than getting used for that objective, although, it’s beneficial that neighborhood consultations be held involving Ottawa Police Service members and neighborhood leaders, stakeholder teams and the general public.

“The staff,” the report says, “will conduct neighborhood consultations this fall to overview the implementation of the system (Digital Proof Info Administration System, or DEIMS, a technique being undertaken by quite a few police forces which incorporates video and audio information), the know-how to be deployed and to introduce the BWC (body-worn digital camera) pilot strategy. That is being completed to make sure that any potential points linked to using video/audio seize and its administration are addressed and mitigated previous to implementation and deployment.”

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The board will even be offered Monday with a Toronto Police Service analysis of its body-worn digital camera pilot undertaking, which started in 2014.

In that undertaking, 85 officers wore cameras, whereas 7,500 surveys had been accomplished by neighborhood members in 2015-16.

Whereas the report concluded that the quantitative outcomes of the pilot weren’t compelling, the extent of neighborhood assist for the cameras was. “The neighborhood strongly believes that body-worn cameras will make the police extra accountable to the general public, enhance public belief in police, and that they’ll assist to make sure skilled service that advantages each the general public and officers.”

Stubbs will even replace the board on Monday about OPS efforts in searching for grant funding from different ranges of presidency to search out different, non-police strategies of responding to mental-health calls. That is in response to a directive from council in July to search out funding outdoors the municipal coffers to assist a Disaster Response Pilot undertaking, with a proposed launch within the fall of 2024.

In response to Stubbs, OPS has labored with metropolis employees to place collectively a three-year funding request package deal for a program that would offer a non-911 quantity for residents searching for mental-health or substance-use calls, supported by civilian-led responses. The request package deal was despatched to Ontario’s Solicitor, Normal, Michael Kerzner, on Sept. 11.

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