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Mayor Jim Watson doesn’t want to hear anonymous complaints about Chief Charles Bordeleau of the Ottawa police. He wants unhappy officers to call their boss out publicly, so he can ignore their complaints in person.

The mayor’s energy for happy public events is properly legendary. You have to follow him on social media to see his id come out and snarl. It happened Tuesday night, after a meeting with Bordeleau about public safety. People keep getting shot. Watson has chosen not to sit on the police services board, so he discusses these things with top cops behind closed doors.

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When he tweeted about what a good meeting it had been, Watson drew a critical reply from an anonymous tweeter, @RealCanadianCop, who purports to be an Ottawa patrol officer.

“This is what, your 3rd highly publicized meeting in as many years, yet the shootings not only continue but get worse,” @RealCanadianCop wrote to him. “Your Chief of Police does not know what he’s doing and has completely lost the confidence of the front line cops.”

“Too bad you hide behind the anonymity of social media,” Watson answered back.

When Watson gets to Watsoning, there’s really no stopping him. He’s a maddening debater this way, taking on straw-man versions of his opponents and dismissing honest disagreement as dithering or stalling. Somehow his critics always choose the wrong venue, or the wrong point in the process, to complain.

What this person should do, Watson tweeted, is arrange a meeting with his or her superior and come with some constructive suggestions, as if “the chief hasn’t a clue” is in the same category as “I have some thoughts on how to streamline our paperwork.”