What the board looked at
The board's September 28, 2026 meeting agenda included a Chief's report responding to an inquiry titled "Detection of Misuse of Police Databases and Information Systems by Members." The report asked the board to receive it for information, a sign the service is formally reviewing how it catches unauthorized searches rather than treating individual cases as one-offs.
The review comes after Ottawa Police Chief Eric Stubbs described a pattern of officers using force databases for reasons that had nothing to do with policing. Stubbs said members have used the systems "as their own way to meet women," including running license plates of women they noticed at coffee shops or gyms. He also described officers "messaging vulnerable victims on calls that they've attended, in attempt to develop an intimate relationship."
Two cases already in the system
The database misuse problem isn't hypothetical for Ottawa. Constable Andrew Reesor is facing six charges under the Community Safety and Policing Act after being accused of 77 unauthorized database searches, according to Stubbs.
A second case has already worked its way through discipline. Constable Jerome Rabiha-Stevens pleaded guilty to two counts of failure to comply with procedures and two counts of undermining public trust, and was demoted from first-class constable to second-class constable for 18 months. The settlement was signed and released the week of April 21, 2026.
An investigation found Rabiha-Stevens conducted numerous unauthorized database queries between March 2024 and May 2025, both on and off duty, including during sick leave and annual leave. Of those, 17 unauthorized queries on the MTO Inquiry Services System and the Canadian Police Information Centre database targeted ex-partners and acquaintances, while a further 49 unauthorized queries in the same two databases involved members of the public who had no connection to Rabiha-Stevens' personal life.
Why it matters for Ottawa residents
For Ottawa residents, the concern is straightforward: these databases hold license plate records, addresses and personal details tied to real people, many of them crime victims who called police for help. When an officer uses that access to pursue someone romantically, it turns a public safety tool into something that can make a vulnerable person feel surveilled by the very institution meant to protect them.
The board receiving this report for information suggests Ottawa police leadership is treating the pattern, not just the individual officers, as the problem. What specific technical or procedural changes might follow hasn't been detailed in what's been made public so far.
Sources: IBTimes UK, CP24, OttWatch (Ottawa Police Service Board meeting agenda)
