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Ottawa's police chief has admitted that officers misused restricted law‑enforcement databases to identify and pursue women they encountered in public places, a revelation that has triggered a crisis of trust inside one of Canada's largest municipal police forces.

In a seven‑minute internal video message sent to all members of the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) in May 2026, Chief Eric Stubbs described what he called a 'pattern of behaviour' within the force and issued a blunt ultimatum: 'Change your behaviour or quit.' The video, obtained and published by CTV News Ottawa, lays bare conduct Stubbs said he had seen repeated too many times.

The Chief's Own Words On Misusing Police Databases

Stubbs was specific about what he had seen. 'Members are using our databases as their own way to meet women,' he said. 'Seeing a woman at a coffee shop, coming out of a gym, driving next to them, getting their license plates, and running them on the system.' The databases in question are law‑enforcement systems, accessible only to sworn officers, that return personal identifying information on private citizens.

He also described members 'messaging vulnerable victims on calls that they've attended, in attempt to develop an intimate relationship', behaviour he said was 'happening way too often' and conduct that 'tarnishes every one of us.' In a candid admission, Stubbs acknowledged he had needed education on the subject himself, saying he had been 'a little blind or siloed to the whole topic' for most of his career.

What The Disciplinary Records Reveal

The chief's warning had concrete precedent. The settlement agreement between the OPS and Constable Jerome Rabiha‑Stevens, dated 20 April 2026 and signed pursuant to section 202(8) of the Community Safety and Policing Act, documents precisely the conduct Stubbs described.

According to the agreed statement of facts, Rabiha-Stevens conducted 69 unauthorised queries using both the Ministry of Transportation Inquiry Services System and the Canadian Police Information Centre database, including searches on women he met at the gym, his then-partner, and a woman he was having a sexual relationship with. The queries were conducted on and off duty, during sick leave and annual leave, and from his OPS-issued mobile phone. A review of the internal OPS Records Management System confirmed none of the searches corresponded to any police interaction on the dates they were made.

The settlement further records that Rabiha‑Stevens identified one woman at the gym, ran her plates without her knowledge, then located and contacted her on Instagram, initiating a relationship she later told investigators she had not understood was built on an unauthorised search. He pleaded guilty to four counts of misconduct, including two counts of undermining public trust. The adjudicator ordered a demotion from First Class Constable to Second Class Constable for 18 months.

A second officer, Constable Andrew Reesor, faces six charges under the same legislation after being accused of 77 unauthorised database searches. According to the OPS request for an adjudicator to be appointed, Reesor's stated reasons included 'curiosity and attraction' and 'boredom.' He 'acknowledged he was aware such use was prohibited and constituted misconduct.' The OPS has sought his employment termination.

A Pattern Of Misconduct, Not An Isolated Case

The database cases form one strand of a broader crisis. An Ottawa police superintendent, Mark Patterson, faces disciplinary charges for allegedly engaging in a sexual act with a member of the public without her consent; he has been suspended since June 2022 with no hearing date yet set. The president of the Ottawa Police Association faces a sexual assault allegation currently under investigation by Ontario's police watchdog. A separate officer was charged with assault, criminal harassment and the improper use of a police‑issued firearm in an alleged intimate partner violence case.

On 27 May 2026, the Ottawa Police Services Board issued a media release confirming it had held a special in‑camera meeting with Stubbs and his executive command. The board stated it 'made it clear that sexual harassment, sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and gender‑based misconduct are unacceptable,' and announced Stubbs would deliver a public accountability update at its 22 June 2026 meeting.

Nine Organisations Demand A Credible Fix

By 16 June 2026, nine executive directors of Ottawa's assault and rape support centres had sent a joint letter to Stubbs and the board. Interval House, Immigrant Women Services Ottawa, the Sexual Assault Support Centre, the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre and five other organisations called for a 'comprehensive, measurable, and transparent strategy' to address what they described as systemic failures. The letter specifically asked whether the force would review past intimate partner and sexual violence investigations handled by officers now facing their own misconduct allegations, and how it would 'ensure the confidentiality and privacy of survivors' given the documented pattern of unauthorised database searches.

Their concern is rooted in history. A 2021 joint review by the OPS and its oversight board recommended an independent workplace investigations office, outside the chain of command. It was set up in 2022 and shut down in 2023, without the board being consulted. The board found out on the day of its regular October meeting. No public explanation was given until March 2024. The OPS has now completed five separate workplace culture reviews since 2015; the one structural reform those reviews produced lasted a single year.

For the nine organisations that signed the June letter, the numbers are stark, and they are not prepared to wait another decade for an answer.

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