Alayne McGregor
This is a slightly expanded version of the story that appeared in the November 2021 print edition of The BUZZ.
The proposed 2.86 percent ($14 million) increase in the Ottawa Police budget for 2022 has reignited the bigger question of who can more effectively handle people in crisis: police or social services.
Now a coalition of 12 community health centres across Ottawa has done the research. Last month they released a report, “Rethinking Community Safety in Ottawa”, that analyzed non-violent police interactions with the public, and proposed less expensive and more effective alternatives.
These included dealing with the homeless and precariously housed – “the homeless guy doesn’t need a cop – he needs some water and a pair of socks”; those suffering mental health problems; youth; and women who are victims of violence. These use significant police resources, the report said, estimating that mental health interventions alone cost $50 and $75 million per year.
For each category, the report outlined extensive long-term and short-term responses based on current work by local agencies. For homelessness, for example, existing programs like supportive housing, drop-in centres, eviction prevention, crisis outreach, and recovery beds could produce better outcomes and reduce the need for police interventions “if they were given the resources to expand both the volume and geography of their programs.”
“Many 9-1-1 calls didn’t need a police report“
The report quoted international studies showing many 9-1-1 calls didn’t need a police report. “Ottawa service providers underscore the need for change, noting that many people facing a crisis feel stuck, needing help but not wanting criminal justice involvement. People with loved ones facing a mental health crisis don’t want to see them arrested but don’t have an alternative urgent response. Parents who encounter folks who are without homes and in distress want them to get help, but not arrested—they currently have no options. Parents of youth who need interventions, but not a criminal record, don’t know where to turn.”
The health centres proposed 31 specific initiatives, each costed-out from $100,000 to $14 million, to send “the right people to the right situations at the right time.” These would cost “a fraction of what the City of Ottawa now spends” on police responses and improve community safety, the report said.
Businesses seeing pandemic stresses
At the press conference introducing the report, Michelle Groulx, the executive director of the Ottawa Coalition of Business Improvement Areas (OCOBIA), recounted how businesses were seeing increased mental health and drug addiction issues during the pandemic. She said OCOBIA supported “a community safety and wellbeing program equipped with empathetic mental health and social service professionals. We want to see permanent housing and social services support that provide a means to recovery, not daily relapse. This healing begins with the very first contact during a crisis, preferably before escalation, by the right person at the right time.”
Budget debate at Police Board Nov. 22; City Council Dec. 8
City Council rejected a freeze on the police budget in July. At the Somerset/Kitchissippi ward budget consultation Oct. 20, Councillor Jeff Leiper said he expected another attempt in the debate on the full budget on Dec. 8.
If councillors could be convinced to read the “Rethinking Community Safety” report, Leiper said, and “buy in to some of the initiatives as a means of saving money further down the road, maybe they will change their minds.”
Councillor Catherine McKenney said grassroots groups are putting pressure on the police budget.
“We’re starting to hear it throughout the community, where residents are seeing that we’re not preventing crime with more police, and we are not addressing social services and mental health issues, addiction, homelessness. So it really is becoming, I think, more widely accepted that funding mental health supports, outreach, community development, recreation programming for youth is how we will address the issues that we have traditionally called on the police to do in the community. So I am hopeful.”
The Police Services Board will consider the police budget on Nov. 22; citizens can address the board and propose changes at that meeting. City Council cannot alter portions of the budget: it can either accept it as a whole, or reject it and send it back to the board.