Ottawa Police Services Board to review recommendations of Abdi inquest

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The Ottawa Police Services Board is considering establishing a community advisory panel to give “representatives from Ottawa’s diverse communities … meaningful input into board policies and strategies.”

The suggestion is part of a report to the board following the coroner’s inquest into the 2016 death of Abdirahman Abdi, a 38-year-old Black man with mental health challenges who died after an interaction with Ottawa police. The report will be discussed by the board at its Jan. 27 meeting, the first since the coroner’s jury delivered its recommendations in December.

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Three of the 57 recommendations were aimed at the police services board, although setting up a community advisory panel was not one of them. Such a panel, however, is a recognized best practice for boards, the report notes, and would give the board insight into community concerns, and “foster trust and transparency between the board and the public.”

The other recommendations include making sure the board receives a report from the police chief whenever there is a Special Investigations Unit investigation of an incident. That is already required by law, but for reasons unexplained didn’t happen with the Abdi investigation.

The board also promised to ensure incoming members would be given information about prior coroner’s inquests and would consider a recommendation to improve how it analyzed use-of-force data.

Though not directed at the board, members will also look at the jury’s recommendation for Ottawa police officers to use body-worn cameras. Officers were to have begun wearing body cameras this year, but their use has been put off until 2026 because of the cost.

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Twenty-five of the recommendations were aimed at the Ottawa Police Service itself, with the most prominent being that it set up a mental health advisory council to improve officer training and police response to mental health calls.

The PSB report, if approved on Monday, will also require Chief Eric Stubbs to report back to the board in March about how the police service is responding to the jury’s findings.

Coroner’s inquests do not find fault and the jury’s recommendations are not binding. The Ottawa Police Services Board was one of 16 organizations named in a letter from Dr. David Cameron, regional supervising coroner, that asked for a response to the inquest.

Cameron asked the organizations to reply by July 17, but noted he had no authority to request one.

“However, we do post responses publicly and scrutiny of the responses has been growing,” he wrote. “Public criticism may follow if a thoughtful response is not received in a timely manner.”

The letter also went to the City of Ottawa, Ottawa Public Health, the Ottawa Paramedic Service and the Public Health Agency of Canada, among others.

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