Content warning: Please be advised, the following content makes reference to domestic abuse and police brutality.
The 2022 Ottawa police budget continues to make waves among some residents and community organizations that argued against an increase last month.
At a meeting of the Ottawa Police Service Board (OPSB) on Monday, Robin Browne, president of 613-819 Black Hub, levelled numerous accusations at the board.
Browne is a federal employee and co-founder of 613-819 Black Hub, an organization that brings together people of African descent to push back against anti-Black racism. He says he has attended nearly every OPSB meeting this year, including the Nov. 23 meeting during which the board approved the 2022 Ottawa Police Service (OPS) budget.
Browne told the OPSB on Monday that they had failed to listen to the delegations and testimonials of all those who appealed to freeze the OPS budget.
“You and City Council voted to give the OPS an $11-million budget increase to bring their total budget to almost $400-million,” says Browne. “And you said that ‘struck a balance,’ when the city only spends $98-million on public health in the middle of a… pandemic, $15-million on affordable housing in the middle of a housing crisis, and only $2.5-million on climate change after having declared a climate emergency. You did this after nearly all of the people who spoke at last month's board meeting asked you not to.”
At the budget confirmation meeting of the OPSB last month, 55 delegates from varying professional and cultural backgrounds spoke on the budget. Many appealed to the board to either freeze the budget altogether or to reduce funding significantly and redirect it toward other services.
“We asked you to free up the cash for things that actually do reduce crime and keep us all safer, like mental health supports, employment programs, climate change and affordable housing,” says Browne.
Browne questioned the validity of claims made by board and council members that cite testimonials from constituents who want a greater police presence. He also expressed skepticism about whether or not any members of the Black, Indigenous, or low-income communities were consulted regarding the decision.
The OPSB says much of the community feedback it has received is sourced from a report which surveyed 3,200 participants in the Ottawa area.
The report (OPSB/OPS Budget Consultation Survey 2021) indicated that its sample size underrepresented low-income, disabled, Black, Indigenous, Middle-Eastern, and Asian residents. It is also overly representative of residents in suburban areas, white residents, middle to high-income residents, and residents over the age of 55 years.
The report concluded that “most prevalent themes” were a desire to increase OPS staffing and presence in communities.
“It appears that you prioritize the voices of people who almost never have contact with the OPS,” says Browne. “Let's be clear, the evidence absolutely shows that they aren't safer, they just feel safer. So you prioritize giving some people a false sense of security, instead of giving all of us real security.”
Furthermore, Browne pointed out that the three Black delegates who supported the budget at the OPSB budget confirmation meeting were “middle-class folks in their 70s” who had never had interactions with the police service beyond attending OPSB meetings.
He claimed that one of these delegates was “personal friends” with Sloly, which Sloly denied, saying the assertion was “inappropriate.”
In the final confirmation of the city budget earlier this month, Sloly stated that the approved $11-million increase, which was $2-million less than the initial amount requested, would hinder OPS operations in such a way that he was unsure if they could work with the amount.
He said the OPS were open to delegating calls to other city services, but that as no other frontline service is “properly equipped” to handle these calls, the transition could take years.
In an interview with CHUO, Browne said the OPS has been disingenuous in their intent to engage with the community and delegate to other essential services.
“You heard them rage about how they're calling it a budget cut,” says Browne. “Why did the chief and the OPS say that? They know that because the board didn't cut a large amount of the budget and free it up to go to things that will actually keep people safe, that the crisis will keep happening. And then they can say, ‘You see what happens when you cut our budget?’ And ask for an even bigger increase next year.”
Sloly told city councillors earlier this month that the OPS would need to be present at the table for any discussions regarding the redistribution of funds to other services.
Browne says the role of the OPS in this context would be similar to that of an abusive spouse being left by their partner.
“He needs to be around to give her the keys to the house and the car, and the Wi Fi password,” says Browne. “But he will absolutely not be at the table with her team that will help her design her new life. Well, you gave that abusive husband an $11-million raise.”
Sloly called this comparison “vile,” saying Browne’s delegation was a “misrepresentation of the facts.”
“Mr. Brown has demonstrated his inability to speak truth on these delegations,” says Sloly.
Chair of the OPSB Coun. Diane Deans says that, as an employer of the police service, the city had to prioritize the welfare of service members.
“We have a responsibility to meet our employment obligations, and some of those were around human resources and compensation packages and those things that we had to take into account,” says Deans. “They also had to look at the capacity that the city currently has to be able to offload some of the calls that we would like to see in terms of mental health and addictions and homelessness.”
Deans added that the promise the board made was to “make their best efforts” to achieve a net-zero budget increase, and that they made every attempt to reach that goal.
Browne says that by passing the police budget, the city essentially told marginalized communities to “shut up and continue being hurt and killed.” He says he doesn’t plan to do either of those things, and will continue to speak against the budget “up until next year’s election.”
Listen to the CHUO story below: