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Beginning next Thursday, Ottawa residents calling police for assistance will receive follow-up texts messages to confirm the request are being answered.
The messaging, through the police force’s “CommunityConnect” portal, is intended to reduce uncertainty while residents wait and to improve transparency and strengthen communication between OPS and the community.
“When applicable, texts may also advise if police response will be delayed,” police said in a release on Jan. 8.
Once a call is cleared, residents will receive a link to a short voluntary survey about their experience with OPS call-takers and officers.
Police said the new service would only apply to less-urgent (category 3 and 4) cases where there was no immediate threat to life or the crime was in progress.
Calls involving sexual assault, intimate partner violence, abduction, bomb threats, alarms or demonstrations will not be part of the system.
“By providing updates and inviting feedback, we are improving transparency and strengthening the connection between police and the community,” said Eric Janus, operations manager of the Ottawa police communications centre.
Confirmation texts will include associated case numbers, and updates if police response will be delayed.
The messages will be sent from 343-803-6032.
The service noted that, based on 2024 data, OPS handled 62,795 priority 3 calls and 211,280 priority 4 calls, most of which would now qualify for text updates.
Survey responses will be gathered in the future and shared internally with OPS members. In the future, the accumulated data will also be published on the Community Safety Data Portal, where members of the public can view, download and interact with OPS data.
The caller response system is already being used in many other Canadian and North American services and has proven useful in gathering both positive and negative feedback, the force said.
Police said the feedback would provide a clearer sense of how residents saw the police service and help OPS improve the way it responded to community needs.
This initiative is part of the OPS modernization program which includes investments in upgraded communications technology and improved service pathways for residents.
“Through the Community Safety Data portal data.ottawapolice.ca, members of the public can view, download, and interact with data released by Ottawa police,” police said in a statement.’
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