OTTAWA - Wednesday's decision by Ottawa Police to call in the OPP to investigate two new cellblock incidents is not unusual, experts say.
"Whenever critical incidents arise, or things need to be looked at by a fresh pair of eyes, police don't hesitate to use that," said Ron Melchers, a criminologist at the University of Ottawa who has worked closely with police.
Just this summer, a former Ottawa police chief, Vince Bevan, conducted a review of the Victoria Police Department's cell operations at the request of Chief Jamie Graham, who was dealing with persistent allegations of excessive force.
Bevan's report, released in October, made 80 recommendations. Among other things, it said Victoria police need to do a better job choosing jail guards and its jail should not house chronic alcoholics and prisoners from other agencies.
Insp. Dave Ross of the OPP's corporate communications bureau said other police agencies regularly ask the OPP to investigate internal incidents, and vice versa.
"We've requested agencies to conduct investigations into the conduct of our officers before," he said.
Some question whether police investigations of another service can ever be credible, said Scot Wortley, a University of Toronto criminologist.
"Critics will argue that police, regardless of what department they're from, will protect each other's backs," he said.
However, he added, "I think you could make the argument that the OPP potentially could be more objective in analysing these situations than the Ottawa police would themselves. It definitely provides those optics."
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