Former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly testified the first weekend of the Freedom Convoy was "fast and furious," with police resources quickly being overwhelmed by upwards of 5,000 vehicles and 15,000 protestors.."From a physical standpoint, 98% of it was in a micro-concentration. Hyper-concentration of activity and unfolding trauma to our community in the heart of our city, in the heart of the parliamentary district," Sloly said..Testifying Friday at the Public Order Emergencies Commission, Sloly said he didn't believe police intelligence suggested the Freedom Convoy would occupy downtown Ottawa for three weeks.."To this day, even with the benefit of hindsight, I do not have any clear impression or saw any clear conclusions we were going to have anything more than what I was being briefed on by my team," he said..Sloly testified he first heard of the Freedom Convoy from a Jan. 13 report from Project Hendon, an intelligence sharing network led by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)..Initially, Sloly said there was some doubt as to whether the Freedom Convoy was going to even "materialize." But as the days went on and media attention for the convoy increased, Sloly became aware there would be a movement of people coming to the city "from as far as St. John, Nl. and Victoria, B.C.".Sloly said the reports and briefings he saw indicated the Freedom Convoy was going to be a weekend-long event, with a small group remaining afterwards and possibly setting up "small tent cities.".Despite a Jan. 28 OPP intelligence report indicating that "available information" indicated the protestors planned to remain in Ottawa until Feb. 4, Sloly said he understood that to mean a small group of people would..The OPS was criticized for failing to heed intelligence reports warning the Freedom Convoy would not merely be a weekend-long event..Sloly said he didn't read the OPP reports on the Freedom Convoy every day, but would "skim" through them when he had enough time. As the convoys got closer to Ottawa, Sloly began paying closer attention to the reports, while always forwarding relevant information to Deputy Police Chief Steve Bell..On Jan. 24, a memo was sent to officers telling them to restrict their discretionary time-off to prepare for the convoy's arrival. It stated while the event was scheduled for one day, "it is highly likely many participants will not leave the city for an undetermined amount of time.".When asked about the wording of that memo, Sloly "indicated the language of the excerpt was not meant to be exact," says the summary..Sloly said on the first day of the protest, a large convoy of vehicles from Windsor occupied the majority of the "red zone" downtown. He said most participants wanted to park as close to Parliament as possible..When subsequent convoys arrived and saw their spots had been taken, there was a "chaotic scramble" of convoys driving around the city.."The traffic plan and the staffing and reserve staffing was significantly, if not already, fully exhausted," he said..Sloly was asked about comments by his former colleague Insp. Russel Lucas, who served as incident commander for the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) during the protest. Lucas told the commission earlier this week his team was "drinking from the fire hose."."However many convoys there were, that's how many fire hoses were coming," Sloly said."."Add 10 more fire hoses for all the other odds and sods that showed up, put three more fire hoses in for the minus 35 degree temperature, four or five more for the level of fatigue that our officers already had going into those events, 43 more fire hoses for the level of public trust in policing, and I think that's a more accurate assessment of the amount of water we were taking on at that point.".At one point during the commission, Sloly was asked how members of Ottawa's police force were handling the protest. Sloly paused and began choking back tears. "I always struggle with this question," he said.."They were doing their very best under inhuman circumstances. Like the city was, like the community was," Sloly said. "It was too cold, and it was too much. But they did their very best. And I'm grateful to them... They should be understood.".Sloly said misinformation and disinformation were "crushing" to the members, incident command and executive teams' morale. He said it was happening, "24-hours a day," and none of it was accurately portraying the hard work of the men and women on the force.."When any police service loses significant public trust and confidence, that in and of itself is a massive public safety threat and risk," he said.
Former Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly testified the first weekend of the Freedom Convoy was "fast and furious," with police resources quickly being overwhelmed by upwards of 5,000 vehicles and 15,000 protestors.."From a physical standpoint, 98% of it was in a micro-concentration. Hyper-concentration of activity and unfolding trauma to our community in the heart of our city, in the heart of the parliamentary district," Sloly said..Testifying Friday at the Public Order Emergencies Commission, Sloly said he didn't believe police intelligence suggested the Freedom Convoy would occupy downtown Ottawa for three weeks.."To this day, even with the benefit of hindsight, I do not have any clear impression or saw any clear conclusions we were going to have anything more than what I was being briefed on by my team," he said..Sloly testified he first heard of the Freedom Convoy from a Jan. 13 report from Project Hendon, an intelligence sharing network led by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP)..Initially, Sloly said there was some doubt as to whether the Freedom Convoy was going to even "materialize." But as the days went on and media attention for the convoy increased, Sloly became aware there would be a movement of people coming to the city "from as far as St. John, Nl. and Victoria, B.C.".Sloly said the reports and briefings he saw indicated the Freedom Convoy was going to be a weekend-long event, with a small group remaining afterwards and possibly setting up "small tent cities.".Despite a Jan. 28 OPP intelligence report indicating that "available information" indicated the protestors planned to remain in Ottawa until Feb. 4, Sloly said he understood that to mean a small group of people would..The OPS was criticized for failing to heed intelligence reports warning the Freedom Convoy would not merely be a weekend-long event..Sloly said he didn't read the OPP reports on the Freedom Convoy every day, but would "skim" through them when he had enough time. As the convoys got closer to Ottawa, Sloly began paying closer attention to the reports, while always forwarding relevant information to Deputy Police Chief Steve Bell..On Jan. 24, a memo was sent to officers telling them to restrict their discretionary time-off to prepare for the convoy's arrival. It stated while the event was scheduled for one day, "it is highly likely many participants will not leave the city for an undetermined amount of time.".When asked about the wording of that memo, Sloly "indicated the language of the excerpt was not meant to be exact," says the summary..Sloly said on the first day of the protest, a large convoy of vehicles from Windsor occupied the majority of the "red zone" downtown. He said most participants wanted to park as close to Parliament as possible..When subsequent convoys arrived and saw their spots had been taken, there was a "chaotic scramble" of convoys driving around the city.."The traffic plan and the staffing and reserve staffing was significantly, if not already, fully exhausted," he said..Sloly was asked about comments by his former colleague Insp. Russel Lucas, who served as incident commander for the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) during the protest. Lucas told the commission earlier this week his team was "drinking from the fire hose."."However many convoys there were, that's how many fire hoses were coming," Sloly said."."Add 10 more fire hoses for all the other odds and sods that showed up, put three more fire hoses in for the minus 35 degree temperature, four or five more for the level of fatigue that our officers already had going into those events, 43 more fire hoses for the level of public trust in policing, and I think that's a more accurate assessment of the amount of water we were taking on at that point.".At one point during the commission, Sloly was asked how members of Ottawa's police force were handling the protest. Sloly paused and began choking back tears. "I always struggle with this question," he said.."They were doing their very best under inhuman circumstances. Like the city was, like the community was," Sloly said. "It was too cold, and it was too much. But they did their very best. And I'm grateful to them... They should be understood.".Sloly said misinformation and disinformation were "crushing" to the members, incident command and executive teams' morale. He said it was happening, "24-hours a day," and none of it was accurately portraying the hard work of the men and women on the force.."When any police service loses significant public trust and confidence, that in and of itself is a massive public safety threat and risk," he said.
