A veteran Ottawa police officer has been elected as head of the union representing 57-thousand police officers across Canada.

Charles Momy, who served as the head of the Ottawa Police Association for the past five years, was chosen at the Canadian Police Association's annual conference in Saint John's, NL Saturday.

Momy started his career as a police officer with the Gloucester Police Force in 1988.

He has worked in patrol, surveillance and detective units in Ottawa.

With files from the Canadian Press