Ontario's ombudsman calls death of Ottawa man after arrest 'tragic'

Ontario's ombudsman calls the death of an Ottawa man after a confrontation with police "tragic" and sayshe willpush the provincial government to improve the trainingpolice officers receive for de-escalatingsituations.

Witnesses who saw the interaction on Sunday morningtold CBC News they watchedone officer use a baton onAbdirahman Abdi's arms,legs, and upper bodya few times, before a second officer arrived in a cruiser, jumped into the altercation, andadministered a number ofheavy blows.

• Witness describes fatal confrontation between Abdirahman Abdi and police

Less than fourweeks before Abdi'sdeath on Monday, ombudsman PaulDubreleased a report that criticizedthe training Ontario officers receiveandtheprovince for neglectingto update guidelines that couldprevent deaths.

The problem was not that officers don't follow their training, but the training itself, he said.

"Our investigation found that Ontario officers have plenty of training on howto use their guns, but not enough on how to use their mouths,"Dubwrote.

• Ombudsman wants police to get better training in de-escalation techniques
• Former police chief Vern White to aid use-of-force probe

The current use-of-force model is outofdatebecause it is based on an officerexerting authority, even though people in crisis don't respond well to commands beingyelled at them,Dubexplained.

According to the Ottawa Police Service's 2015 annual report, less than one per cent of calls for service received by Ottawa police are resolved with useofforce.

Improvements to de-escalation training

The ombudsman's office began investigatingprovincial guidelines and police practices in2013, inthe daysafter a Toronto constableshot teenagerSammyYatimon a streetcar.

The report alsowent through hundreds of recommendations made by juries at coroners' inquests overthe past two decades, many of which called for improvements to de-escalation training.

Dub said it's good news thattheMinistry of Community Safety and Correctional Services agreed the status quo is unacceptable andpromised to implementhis 22 recommendations.

Those recommendations include looking to England or B.C. todevelopa new use-of-force model, expanding and standardizing de-escalationtraining for new recruits and veterans, and changing police culture to encourage de-escalation skills among coach officers.

"I'm hopeful we'll see some significant changes in this areabecause they're long overdue," he said, adding that those changes can't come soon enough.

The office ofDavid Orazietti, minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, wrote in an emailed statement that the"nature of policing has fundamentally changed with the increasing frequency of police interaction with vulnerable individuals in our communities," and that the government is "committed"to ensuring de-escalation"is central to the police response to those in crisis."

"The need for modernized police training is precisely why as part of the Strategy for a Safer Ontario, the ministry is reviewing both its basic constable training program at the Ontario Police College and is conducting a use of force review for reporting, training and equipment. The outcomes of a study into police responses to persons with mental illness have also been built into the strategy."

Abdi's death 'tragic'

"While our report does have the potential to save lives, this was a tragic outcome," Dub said about Abdi'sdeath."It's upsetting to hear about."

He said his heart goes out to Abdi's family, and to police.

"No police officer begins his or her day thinking that they'regoing to end up usinglethal force or hoping to do so," said Dub.

"It's traumatic for everyone involved."