With the ongoing trial of Constable Daniel Montison in Ottawa, we contributed an in-depth article on the Ottawa police to the new issue of The Leveller. This is a companion piece to our timeline of Ottawa police violence featured in the previous issue. Drawing on public records, media accounts, and independent investigations, we examine a history of violence and racism, ineffective oversight, reports that go nowhere, and bloated budgets. We argue that taking all of this together clearly indicates that the OPS, as an institution, is rotten to the core. While there’s a lot that we couldn’t cover in this article, we do hope this piece helps to share some context for understanding and challenging the police in our city.