Defund and Disarm the Police
I (biracial) was only 14 years old the first time I witnessed racial profiling. I was with my friend (black) and younger brother (14 and 13 years old, respectively). The three of us had just finished playing a soccer game and went inside the grocery store across the street from the park to purchase sports drinks. As we left the store, we encountered two black men in their early 20's from our community that we knew well. They had just left the nearby convenience store after purchasing products.
Within 10 seconds of our two groups greeting each other a police officer drove towards us, stepped out of his vehicle and yelled at the two men to provide him identification as he claimed that we were "loitering". We had just stepped out of the store, and had our unopened products and receipts in hand. When one of the young adults provided evidence of products and showed the date and time on the receipts (less than 1 minute had passed) and told him that what he was doing was a mistake and therefore no crime was being committed, that they were not obligated to give him identification.
Instead of admitting that he had made an error and let us continue home, the police officer then fabricated a story about a robbery that happened at the shopping centre "a few days ago" and insisted on seeing their identifications now for this reason as they both had "fit the description". The shopping centre is across the street from the park. The time he claimed the robbery happened, I was at the park and never saw or heard of any robbery.
Both men varied vastly in height, weight, facial features, and hairstyles. After one of the men questioned "Do all black men between the height of 5 and 6 feet, and 100 to 200lbs fit your description? Are you just going to card us all?", the police officer said "yes", and now demanded that my 14-year old friend provide his identification as well. The officer then proceeded to frisk and complete a body search all three of them and put their information in the system. My friend did not even own identification at this age, so the officer asked for his full name and address and inputted it into the system that he had in his police vehicle.
Between the ages of 14-17 I was racially profiled more than 10 times, and never once by the same police officer. I have too many stories to share and this was just the first. I have never been carded for committing a crime. It was always for walking in my neighbourhood and "fitting a description". This is evidence that there is clear systemic racism in the Ottawa Police Service. Now, as an adult in my late twenties, I must share my story to ensure that young black and brown men and women are not unjustly treated in this same manner. Most, if not all, of these officers that have profiled me would still be under the age of 65 and patrolling our streets.
As a taxpayer and resident of this city, I am very dissatisfied that my money is going towards this organization. Over 1/3rd of the City's budget! We must put the majority (yes, the majority) of these funds into public health and community initiatives. DEFUND THE POLICE!
Furthermore, it is unnecessary that police are armed at all times of their job. A police officer does not need a gun to complete a traffic stop. These are intimidation tactics that are being employed on the very citizens they swear to protect and serve. DISARM THE POLICE!