resources must me allocated to communities, not to the police

i have lived in ottawa for the past 3 years and have worked in the byward market the entire time. there have been countless incidents in which the police were called due to harassment, violent threats, and incidents regarding the VERY LARGE homeless population in ottawa. every single time that they have been contacted for time sensitive issues, they have taken over and hour to respond and did absolutely nothing to assist anyone involved other than write down statements and forget about it.

i have personally seen police officers mock, harass and abuse homeless and BIPOC in ottawa. i personally fear for my safety and for the safety of those around me whenever i am near a police officer. i’ve witnessed OPS members drag homeless people on the street on my walk to work.

the funding that has been given to OPS must be redistributed to our communities. we need better education, more addiction services, housing and food for our homeless population, and more mental health services. it is crucial that people are met with compassion and resources when they are struggling, NOT have armed officers come to fine them and ignore the underlying issues.

citizens of ottawa should NOT have to fear discrimination, abuse and death at the hands of the OPS.