Ottawa police to audit force’s equity, diversity after 2016 death

The Ottawa Police Service will conduct an audit of its diversity and equity practices, Chief Charles Bordeleau told Monday evening ’s police board meeting.

Following a formal request from the Justice for Abdirahman Coalition asking the board to direct the force to conduct an independent, third-party audit into the force’s diversity, Bordeleau confirmed that plans were already underway to do so.

He said the suggestion of the audit had been raised by officers themselves and by members of the public. The force recently revealed the results of a similar gender audit.

Dahabo Ahmed Omer, co-chair of Justice for Abdirahman — a coalition formed after the in-custody death of Somali-Canadian Abdirahman Abdi in July 2016 — called on the board to conduct an independent audit of diversity and equity practices, including policies and numbers related to officer retention, hiring, promotions and assignments to determine whether the force reflects the racially diverse community it serves.

Abdi’s death, after he was arrested by two Ottawa police officers, is still under investigation by the Special Investigations Unit. Bordeleau said the force is “eagerly” anticipating the results of the investigation so it can continue to move forward working with the Somali community.

The SIU is a civilian agency responsible for investigating circumstances involving police and civilians that have resulted in a death, serious injury or allegations of sexual assault.

The coalition told the board the audit would send a message to the community that the force is working to address racism. Omer flatly said that “by no means” was the group claiming OPS is a racist organization, but he said elements of racism are manifested in the actions of some officers and inactions of the force.

Omer said the group has been in discussion with Bordeleau and is “at the table working with his staff.”

“We do believe there is sincerity,” she said of police efforts toward the Somali community since Abdi’s death. She called confirmation of the audit and the force’s willingness to assess itself “wonderful to hear.”

Bordeleau also said Monday that he has “full confidence” in the report and study by the traffic-stop race data research team. While York University researchers were studying the perceived race of drivers pulled over by Ottawa officers, the force commissioned Ottawa police officer and researcher Greg Brown and researcher Phil Primeau to survey officers on their feelings about the race data study.

That report, obtained by Metro Ottawa, found that some officers admitted to falsifying raw data used in the race data study out of fear they’d be painted as racists. Bordeleau said the York team factored in Brown and Primeau’s report but felt it had enough quality assurance measures in place to ensure the data was accurate.

The force commissioned the internal survey on officer attitudes about the race data study specifically because the force knew that there were officers who were reluctant to properly participate in the traffic stop study.

“We wanted to make sure that our officers had an opportunity to express their views and we wanted to enrich the outcome of the study,” Bordeleau said.

Monday’s board meeting also saw the formal swearing-in of new Deputy Chief Steve Bell. Players from the hockey teams Bell coaches, fellow officers, Bell’s wife, his two sons and several others attended the swearing in.

“Steve, you bring leadership and compassion. You bring ethical values, you bring innovation ... to the job,” Bordeleau said to Bell, handing him his deputy chief badge and welcoming him to the police executive.

Bell said he was “deeply honoured” to take on the new role and looked forward to continuing to serve the board, the city and the force’s “2,000 great members.”