New Ottawa police officer worked in the city before–on the other side of the police radio

Ottawa’s newest police officer is Joel Smith. A lot of the police and 911 employees already know him. He was a 911 telecommunicator for seven years and earned two Telecommunicator of the Year awards. About five years ago, he started training to become a police officer and got his first job on that side of the police radio in Marseilles. He’s been working for the LaSalle Police Department since 2018. Ottawa Police Chief Brent Roalson says Smith was sworn in Wednesday and will have field training before he’s assigned his own patrol.