In July, Abdirahman Abdi, a Somali-Canadian man was beaten to death by police in Ottawa. The man had mental health issues and despite the man being visibly subdued on the ground, the police continued to assault him, something that ultimately resulted in his death. His death was unnecessary and preventable and highlighted a problem happening all across Canada.
There is a pattern of racism in police violence in this country and it was evidenced in the treatment of Abdirahman Abdi. This violence and mistreatment must stop.
Justice for Abdi, a local group that formed after his death, is calling for better policing in Ottawa. They are calling for body-cameras on all police officers which have been highly effective in reducing the number of stop-and-frisks and arrests and also have been shown to reduce escalation with police officers.
The group is also asking for Ottawa police to have better de-escalation training. De-escalation training is being taught to officers all across North America now as a better method for engaging with the public. Police are finding that people are more co-operative and less violent when police use de-escalation rather than the standard militant tactics they are being trained with at their academies.
Sign today to help prevent further racist police violence in Ottawa. By signing today you are standing for better police accountability.
*Photo Credit: All-Nite Images CC BY-SA 2.0 Via Wikimedia Commons
To Mayor Jim Watson,
As someone who values the lives of all people I am greatly concerned at the recent beating death of Abdiraham Abdi by Ottawa police. This death was preventable and unnecessary and highlights problems within the Ottawa police force.
In order to prevent further racist violence by the police I call on you to order body cameras for all police officers. Body cameras have been shown to reduce the use of violence, prevent profiling and reduce arrests. As well, I call on you to ensure that all police officers have appropriate de-escalation training so that this sort of violent death does not happen again.
[Your Comment Here]
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
