OTTAWA - Ottawa police are reviewing how they award contracts to private companies after a security guard became the prime suspect in the theft of a cop's gun.

The brazen theft at the Elgin St. police headquarters in September resulted in the immediate hunt for the gun by a team of cops ordered to track it down.

Police would find the pistol about a month later with the help of the private security guard, who was working in the room where the gun was stolen.

It also led to the officer being placed under internal investigation for improper storage of a weapon until he was cleared in March.

It was Sept. 14 when the officer, described as "no rookie" and in his late 30s or 40s, used a combination lock to secure his belongs in a locker in the change room.

The belongings included his work-issued .40-calibre Glock pistol and ammunition.

Inside the room, contractors were doing renovations and a security guard was there to watch over them.

The patrol officer returned to his locker to find his gun missing. He reported it and the hunt began.

Detectives interviewed the security guard multiple times, and scoured any possible angles or leads that connected him to the gun.

In the third week of October the guard -- police wouldn't name him, or the company he worked for -- led detectives to a residence in the city.

The gun and ammunition were then returned.

Police didn't have enough evidence to charge the guard, said Supt. Mike Flanagan.

"It was old-fashioned police work and interviewing techniques that led us to it, but we didn't have the physical evidence, be it circumstantial or otherwise, to lay the charge," Flanagan said.

He said the theft made police stop and consider what went wrong. All options were considered.

The Mounties were called in to examine the combination lock. They couldn't determine it was faulty or that it'd been tampered with.

Flanagan couldn't say if the security company still holds a contract with Ottawa police, but said the force is conducting a "serious" review of how it hands out contracts.

"It caused us a lot of concern," Flanagan said.

Police don't believe the gun was fired while missing.

kenneth.jackson@sunmedia.ca