Ottawa police's equity council seeking members for new use-of-force panel

The Ottawa Police Service's community equity council is seeking members for a new committee that will recommend ways to decrease the disproportionate use of force against racialized groups.

The council's use-of-force review panel will be composed of Ottawans who are part of racialized, faith-based and other diverse communities.

The group will study police case files and suggest improved procedures and training, according to the panel's terms of reference.

One senior police officer and one community member will serve as co-chairpersons.

Sahada Alolo, the council's co-chair, said the panel is needed in the wake of a report released earlier this year that showed officers disproportionately used force against Black and Middle Eastern people in 2022.

While only eight per cent of Ottawans are Black, the group was affected by 25 per cent of that year's use-of-force incidents.

"We need to tackle it," Alolo told CBC's Ottawa Morning. "We are no longer debating whether racism exists."

Sahada Alolo, co-chair of the Ottawa police community equity council, said it's time to tackle the problem of racism in police-civilian interactions. (Matthew Kupfer/CBC)

Alolo said police members will help the review panel understand the "legal framework" police operate in and what's possible for police to implement.

The panel's recommendations won't be binding, Alolo said there are "boundaries within the terms of reference to make sure those recommendations go forward."

LISTEN | Why are racialized people disproportionately affected by the use of force?

Police Chief Eric Stubbs fully supports the creation of the panel, he told CBC in a scrum on Monday.

He noted the force already consults experts from the community during intimate partner violence and sexual assault investigations.

Applications for the use-of-force review panel are due on June 10.