Calling the police is an impossible act

Calling the police is an unfathomable act for me. When I see someone in the community struggling, I avoid calling the police or 311 (who engage the police), out of fear of the harm that they'll be exposed to. I see the police harassing people in my community, often in groups, especially Indigenous and black street-involved people. I see them murdering Abdirahman Abdi, and not only not being held accountable, but wearing bracelets in support of the murderer, and bullying police officers who speak out in private police-only Facebook groups and at work. I hear about them sexually assaulting women in our community.

Lately, I have started calling the Salvation Army's mobile support van when I see someone in my community dealing with a mental health crisis, but there need to be more options. The role of the police has become incredibly skewed, and since we cannot trust them to not escalate violence, particularly when responding to Black community members, Indigenous peoples, and people with intellectual and mental health disabilities, and especially when responding to Black and Indigenous community members with disabilities, I do not trust them at all. I am a white woman with a visible disability, and when I see police at community events, festivals, or out in my community, I feel fear. Especially when I have seen them with weapons. I cannot begin to understand the fear community members who are Black, Indigenous, non-black people of colour, street-involved, have an intellectual disability, or are struggling with mental health must feel.

I want to be clear, that changing police demographics or fighting biases within the Ottawa police is not enough. We need to significantly restructure how policing and justice happen in Ottawa. We have the opportunity to be a leader. It is crucial that Ottawa defund the police. Not cut by 10% or reduce budgets, but defund. It is crucial that Ottawa support restorative justice and community safety outside of the police system. It is important to note that Black and Indigenous peoples and those who experience intellectual and mental health disabilities in our city experience harm from health care system, social workers, the foster system, the criminal justice system, and so defunding the police is a single step in a process of providing healthy, safe services to the communities that make up this city. It is crucial that Ottawa support alternative services, led by the communities themselves. It is crucial that Ottawa support deincarceration, particularly given the violent and harmful conditions at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre. It is crucial that Ottawa support culturally appropriate services for street involved community members and supportive housing.

It is impossible for me to support the reelection of a mayor and city council that does not have a genuinely transformative vision for a safe and healthy capital city that is rooted in the empowerment, autonomy, and survival of the city's Black, Indigenous, and disability populations. Full stop.