Defund the Ottawa police, groups tell police board

People calling to defund the Ottawa police brought their message directly to the group overseeing the force's budget Monday night.

Four of the five members of the public who addressed the Ottawa Police ServicesBoard asked it to redirect money frompolice to social services such as mental healthand housing.

They said officers too often resort to the use of force,especially against people from racialized communities, and are ill-equipped to respondto calls involving people with mental health issues.

"We need to reimagine what law enforcement looks like in Ottawa," said Robin Browne, a member of613/819 Black Hub, an advocacy organization.

"We're not calling for the abolition of policing Rather a proper, reallocation of funding that could begin the process of ending the culture of police brutality."

Nearly 10 per centof city budget is police

Calls to defundpolice services across North America have grown louder in recent weeks as protests spreadin response to police killings of civilians, notably Black or Indigenous people.

Ottawans held a march against racism and police brutality earlier this month, thena protest over the weekend marked the death ofAbdirahman Abdi, a 37-year-old man who died following a violent altercation with Ottawa police in July 2016.

Ottawa police Const.Daniel Montsion has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, aggravated assault and assault with a weapon.

Farhia Ahmed, a co-founder of the Justice for Abdirahman Coalition,told the members of thepolice board it has pushed for reform for years, but thecalls have fallen on deaf ears.

"Demands for justice have reached a boiling point and we cannot ignore them,"said Ahmed.

Funding police is almost 10 per centof Ottawa's 2020 budget. At just over $357million, it's one of the budget's largest line items, with the majority going toward paying officers.

Browne called attention to the increase in funding to Ottawa police in previous years, saying ithas grown at a higher ratethan other city-funded services.

"We propose the Ottawa Police Service immediately launch a co-development process with the community to identifywhich social services it will be most effective to shift police funding [to]and create a plan to do so," said Browne.

"Particular focus should be on immediately establishing non-lethal, compassionate responders in the case of people experiencing mental health crises."

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Acting board chair Sandy Smallwoodsaid larger police budgets have been approved in recent years because that's what the community demanded during consultations.

He encouraged people who want to provide input on the police budget to participate in the board's budget consultation process, which normally takes place in the fall.

Defunding won't achieve reform goals: Police chief

Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly said he recognizes there are systemic issuesand committed to reducingdiscrimination and bias by bringing the force's demographics more in line with the city's and being more proactive to prevent crime.

WATCH: Peter Sloly on racism and police (June 1)

Ottawa police chief recommits to fighting racism in light of George Floyds death

4 years ago

Duration 1:09

Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly, in an interview with the CBCs Adrian Harewood, says hes taking a proactive approach aimed at preventing similar tragedies from happening in Ottawa.

But he said defunding police would have a massive impact on society.

"Defunding and disbanding any institution is a complex issue and requires careful analysis, even more careful planning, implementation and evaluation," said Sloly.

Sloly said cuts to the police budget would undercut reforms already underway by reducingtrainingandmeaning it couldn't invest in technology such as body cameras.

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The police board also unanimously passeda motion from member Daljit Nirman meant to address systemic racism and bias within the force.

Itcallsfor reforming its systems and structures to create a more equitable and inclusive organization, including tracking incidents of discrimination within the force, reviewing its racial profiling policy and co-ordinatingwith the city's new anti-racism secreteriat.