Use-of-force review panel to unveil members soon, launch in early 2025

The Abdirahman Abdi inquest is being livestreamed during the day here. 

A new panel of civilians and officers meant to help the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) reduce its number of use-of-force incidents — and the disproportionate amount of force used against racialized people — is expected to announce its members soon and launch in early 2025.

The updates about the previously announced panel have come during the ongoing coroner's inquest into the death of Abdirahman Abdi. 

The 38-year-old Somali-Canadian man who struggled with mental health issues died on July 25, 2016, a day after his violent arrest by two Ottawa police officers.

The wide-ranging inquest has delved into many different aspects of the incident including how the OPS tracks statistics on use of force. Recent annual reports show Black and Middle-Eastern residents are more likely to have force used on them by police officers, despite forming a smaller subset of the city's overall population.

On Wednesday, Day 18 of the inquest, Sgt. Daniel Thompson said the review panel, which the Ottawa Police Community Equity Council was recruiting for earlier this year, is expected to begin its work in early 2025. 

Supt. David Zackrias, an earlier inquest witness who leads the OPS's respect, values and inclusion directorate, said the panel's members will be announced in the coming weeks. 

As Zackrias explained it, the panel will review use-of-force reports and make recommendations to the police service on ways to address the overall number of incidents, which average about 300 a year, and "also bring down the disproportionality."

It's also about "improving relationships between the community and the Ottawa Police Service," he added.

The inquest has heard that Abdi's death further strained the relationship between local Somalis and the police force. 

Apology for Al Pacino training video

Topics that came up earlier in the inquest bob back up the surface on some days, depending on who's testifying. 

On Wednesday, it was Thompson's turn to take questions about a controversial "motivational" video shown to officers during annual use-of-force training in 2016. 

The video, set to a rousing pep talk Al Pacino's coach character gives to his football team in the film Any Given Sunday, features a sensationalist montage of violent police-civilian clashes.

"We're in hell right now, gentlemen, believe me. And we can stay here, get the shit kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light," the voiceover states over a scene of a Black man punching an officer that then cuts to an officer from a different scene clutching his bleeding neck. 

The video was meant to "motivate and engage officers for their subsequent practical training exercise," but was ultimately flagged as inappropriate as part of an internal OPS review into the Abdi incident. A report on that review was not made public until the inquest this week. 

Thompson, who instructs police members on use of force, said he decided not to screen the video during his own training of tactical team members because he found it "distasteful" and of no value. 

"I will personally bear some of the responsibility because I never brought up this was inappropriate and I regret that," Thompson said. 

No one at the inquest has been able to account for how the video was allowed to be shown. The internal review found the video had no bearing on how the arresting officers handled Abdi. 

Thompson said the OPS's professional development centre where training is provided is working harder to consult with community groups to make sure its training materials are not out of line. 

After Thompson, the inquest will be down to its final two witnesses: Marty Carr, the vice-chair of OPS's civilian-led oversight board, and OPS Deputy Chief Steve Bell. 

The jury will then be tasked with determining Abdi's manner of death and potentially making recommendations for how to prevent deaths like Abdi's in the future.