Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency on Sunday to help deal with a blockade by protesting truckers that has shut down much of the core of the Canadian capital.

The move "reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government," said a statement issued by the city.

Peter Sloly, the chief of the Ottawa Police Service, told a special meeting of the police board on Saturday that his force does not "have sufficient resources to adequately and effectively address this situation while adequately and effectively providing policing in this city."

Watson said that the thousands of protesters "are calling the shots" and have made the situation – where trucks have clogged residential streets and have kept their horns honking well into the night – "out of control."

"They have far more people than we have police officers and I've indicated to the chief that we have to be much more nimble and proactive when it comes to these activities," the mayor told an Ottawa radio station.

On Saturday, about 5,000 people and 1,000 tractor-trailers and personal vehicles squeezed into downtown Ottawa to take part in a protest, now in its second week.

The protest was initially intended to voice opposition to the Canadian government's vaccine requirement for truckers crossing the Canada-United States border. Over the past week, the protest morphed into an occupation, and this weekend, Sloly characterized it as a "siege," while a city councilor called it an act of "terrorism," following reports of protesters involved in assaults and acts of vandalism.

Police have made a few arrests and issued more than 450 tickets. But Ottawa residents want tougher action taken and have called on Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take action. One major ask he has declined to agree to, thus far, is calling on the Canadian Armed Forces to disperse the crowds and their vehicles.

(With input from Xinhua)