Ottawa police arrested dozens of people and gave out hundreds of provincial offence notices during a recent sweep of the Centretown area.
Police arrested 21 people after targeting the sex trade in the Hintonburg area and the area between Gladstone and Wellington, charged five people for public intoxication and issued 468 provincial offence notices in a weeklong campaign that wrapped up Sunday.
“This was like spring cleaning,” Sgt. Jean Lamothe of the Central West Neighbourhood Office said yesterday, when police released results of the blitz. “We do this every year … We want to send a message to motorists and people to be respectful and mindful.”
Lamothe said he was surprised the campaign caught so many people as word of the sweep — which targeted street-level drug dealing, prostitution, traffic offences, and liquor licence act offences — was revealed in the media.
Of the 21 people arrested for sex trade offences, nine men qualified for John School and five women and seven men were charged with communication offences.
Police arrested three people for impaired driving and handed out 14 12-hour suspensions. They also cited five bars for Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario offences after visiting area bars with the city’s bylaw and fire departments.
