The Freedom Convoy organizer's failure to "mobilize" during the fall of 2021 made the Ottawa police believe the trucker convoy would only stay in the city for a few days, according to Ottawa's interim police chief Steve Bell.."They tried to mobilize over the fall and never actually mobilized. In normal circumstances with intelligence, one of the things that you rely on in your assessment, is experience," Bell testified Monday during the Public Order Emergency Commission.."This group had not existed before. Nobody had any experience in terms of what they were going to do and how they were going to position themselves.".READ MORE: Top officer testifies Ottawa police should have heeded warnings truckers planned to dig in.Bell's testimony on Monday shed new light on how and why the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) failed to anticipate the Freedom Convoy would shut down the city's downtown core for three weeks..During his testimony, Bell acknowledged the force was "unprepared" for the protests, as its intelligence reports gave no indication that the city would witness the "community trauma and violence" that occurred..“We’ve had examples of occupations of parks, of occupations of intersections that have gone on for a longer period of time. But those didn’t engage in the unlawful activity that we saw here,” he said..“That is what I believe makes this circumstance different. The scope of people, the size of the area they overtook and the activity and the trauma they put our community through. There was nothing to identify that that would occur within the intelligence reports.”.READ MORE: Mayor testifies Ottawa Police Service 'lost control' of downtown during convoy.A January 28 intelligence assessment entered into evidence on Monday found the OPS's threat assessment predicted larger crowds could shut down traffic movement in the city. But Bell said the size of the convoy hadn't been "fully-refined" until January 30, when it was "already upon us." He added the situation was "fluid and dynamic.".During his testimony, Bell also addressed warnings by the Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel Association that a large group of protestors wanted to book rooms for a month. Ball said the intelligence was handed off to the OPS Emergency Operations Centre, that found it was not how it appeared.."What initially was identified as a large tract of people who were going to be in the city for many, many days was narrowed down to be a smaller group of people who have booked a three day stay," Bell said. "So one of the challenging things for us is this was information that helped contribute to our view that it was going to be largely a three-day protest.".READ MORE: Hotel association warned Ottawa that Freedom Convoy planned to stay for weeks.Bell also revealed the OPS didn't believe they had the legal authority to block protestors from arriving in the city. This was despite a legal opinion the Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not protect unlawful activity during protests..A 15-page overview looking at Charter of Rights issues involved in policing protests created on January 28, found the Charter of Rights puts limits on demonstrations that obstruct traffic or roadways for extended periods.."A truck isn't a protected entity under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. People are. That is something we had not exercised prior as an organization," Bell said. "I believe that we do have the ability — and we've exercised it several times since then — to prevent the vehicles from going down.".Bell was referring to several protests held in Ottawa since the Freedom Convoy, including the 'Rolling Thunder' motorcycle rally and the Dutch 'slow-roll' convoy.
The Freedom Convoy organizer's failure to "mobilize" during the fall of 2021 made the Ottawa police believe the trucker convoy would only stay in the city for a few days, according to Ottawa's interim police chief Steve Bell.."They tried to mobilize over the fall and never actually mobilized. In normal circumstances with intelligence, one of the things that you rely on in your assessment, is experience," Bell testified Monday during the Public Order Emergency Commission.."This group had not existed before. Nobody had any experience in terms of what they were going to do and how they were going to position themselves.".READ MORE: Top officer testifies Ottawa police should have heeded warnings truckers planned to dig in.Bell's testimony on Monday shed new light on how and why the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) failed to anticipate the Freedom Convoy would shut down the city's downtown core for three weeks..During his testimony, Bell acknowledged the force was "unprepared" for the protests, as its intelligence reports gave no indication that the city would witness the "community trauma and violence" that occurred..“We’ve had examples of occupations of parks, of occupations of intersections that have gone on for a longer period of time. But those didn’t engage in the unlawful activity that we saw here,” he said..“That is what I believe makes this circumstance different. The scope of people, the size of the area they overtook and the activity and the trauma they put our community through. There was nothing to identify that that would occur within the intelligence reports.”.READ MORE: Mayor testifies Ottawa Police Service 'lost control' of downtown during convoy.A January 28 intelligence assessment entered into evidence on Monday found the OPS's threat assessment predicted larger crowds could shut down traffic movement in the city. But Bell said the size of the convoy hadn't been "fully-refined" until January 30, when it was "already upon us." He added the situation was "fluid and dynamic.".During his testimony, Bell also addressed warnings by the Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel Association that a large group of protestors wanted to book rooms for a month. Ball said the intelligence was handed off to the OPS Emergency Operations Centre, that found it was not how it appeared.."What initially was identified as a large tract of people who were going to be in the city for many, many days was narrowed down to be a smaller group of people who have booked a three day stay," Bell said. "So one of the challenging things for us is this was information that helped contribute to our view that it was going to be largely a three-day protest.".READ MORE: Hotel association warned Ottawa that Freedom Convoy planned to stay for weeks.Bell also revealed the OPS didn't believe they had the legal authority to block protestors from arriving in the city. This was despite a legal opinion the Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not protect unlawful activity during protests..A 15-page overview looking at Charter of Rights issues involved in policing protests created on January 28, found the Charter of Rights puts limits on demonstrations that obstruct traffic or roadways for extended periods.."A truck isn't a protected entity under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. People are. That is something we had not exercised prior as an organization," Bell said. "I believe that we do have the ability — and we've exercised it several times since then — to prevent the vehicles from going down.".Bell was referring to several protests held in Ottawa since the Freedom Convoy, including the 'Rolling Thunder' motorcycle rally and the Dutch 'slow-roll' convoy.
