Ottawa's mayor says now is not the time for the police chief to resign.

"Chief (Vern) White should not resign and I think he is doing a commendable job," Mayor Jim Watson said on Thursday.

"Now is not the time to change the leadership at the police service."

Ottawa's police chief reportedly offered to resign after a cellblock video was released by court last month showing the treatment of an innocent Ottawa woman in custody.

However, the resignation offer was reportedly rejected by the Ottawa Police Services Board.

A second video was also released last week, showing a homeless man being dragged into a cell and kicked by a civilian officer.

The two videos sparked public outrage over police conduct in cellblocks, prompting White to order a review of any previous incidents involving police that should be flagged and investigated.

Earlier this week, the acting police chief called in the Ontario Provincial Police to investigate two new incidents involving police conduct in cellblocks. Those cases are currently before the courts.

Acting chief Gilles Larochelle also acknowledged Tuesday that the police force seems to have a systemic problem with the actions of officers in cellblocks.

Larochelle is filling in while the police chief is out of town for his wedding in Finland.

Meanwhile, the president of the Ottawa Police Association is blasting the chief for failing to deal with problems in cellblocks.

Steve Boucher sent an email to his membership on Wednesday, alleging the chief knew about problems in cellblocks more than a year ago and failed to offer more training for officers.

"In fact, as far back as a year ago, a letter was presented to the chief concerning these very issues and recommending that cellblock personnel be provided additional training specific to their duties," Boucher wrote in the email.

"This reasonable request has gone unanswered. It is extremely regrettable that it took a public relations crisis for our leadership to act."

Boucher says the situation has also caused the reputations of officers to be unjustly attacked before they get the chance to explain themselves.