FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, June 21, 2017 3:45pm
(Ottawa)—In March 2016, the province announced major changes to the way police conducted Street Checks. It provided new rules for voluntary public-police interactions, designed to ensure that these new Regulated Interactions (formerly known as Street Checks) were conducted without bias or discrimination.
The language around the new Regulated Interactions was complex and not easily understood. So the members of the Ottawa Police Service’s (OPS) Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) took it upon themselves to research the new law and find an innovative way of explaining it so youth, or anyone really, could understand what was involved.
“YAC was looking for something to help them, and others, better understand the changes being implemented,” said Regulated Interactions Program Lead, Acting Inspector Jim Elves. “They wanted to create ‘a guide so to speak’ that explained to people what their options were in a way that anyone could understand.”
The group crafted a set of bullet-points that provided a step-by-step guide to Regulated Interactions. It answered questions about everything from when someone is required to show identification to an officer to when someone is allowed to just walk away.
“There’s some confusion about the new Regulated Interactions, we’ve found,” said A/Insp. Elves. “We don’t want people thinking that police can never stop and talk with you. That’s just not true. Police and public interaction is an important part of what we do and we don’t want to create a generation that believes it is not good (or necessary) to cooperate. Nonetheless, we want people to clearly understand their rights and this tool is a great resource. It will be on our website because we want people to access it.”
The OPS will be providing educational material to the public at events city-wide. This initiative is just one of many projects where YAC leadership is making a difference in our community. This is a first-of-its-kind response to a complex issue; created by youth, for youth.
“YAC seeks to be responsive to issues and trends in the community as they relate to youth,” said Strategic Youth Program Specialist, Jessica Ripley. “This resource was a true youth-led team effort and the hope is for it to be helpful and accessible to youth in our community and possibly beyond.”
If you have more questions about Regulated Interactions, please visit our webpage at: ottawapolice.ca/regulatedinteractions.
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