Police violence is a public health issue

We need to fund, and increase accessibility of community-based services that give people options outside of calling the police. The police should absolutely not be responsible for calls that would be better handled by social workers, mental health professionals, emergency health workers or community-led programs. We must invest in our communities. This should be done by de-funding and reducing the dominance of police services, and by fostering collaboration between communities and public health services to make Ottawa an equitable and healthy place to live.

Widaatalla, N. (2020, June 26). Public Health and Police Violence. Student blog, Canadian Public Health Association. https://www.cpha.ca/public-health-and-police-violence?fbclid=IwAR2q6O8201pdQUnDKvMYjBz1RQ7WL_Fz3OX9VfW3S5qK6EdzHkF0YQoa38c