Black, Middle Eastern residents over-represented in Ottawa police use of force incidents, report shows

The sign outside Ottawa Police headquarters on Elgin St. is seen in this undated photo. (Aaron Reid/CTV News Ottawa)

The Ottawa Police Service says Black and Middle Eastern residents were “over-represented” in police use of force incidents compared to the general population in 2025.

The annual Use of Force Report for 2025 will be presented to the Ottawa Police Services Board meeting on Monday evening.

Officers responded to 227,000 calls for service in 2025, and officers displayed or applied force 405 times during 298 incidents involving humans last year. The statistics do not include 26 incidents where officers used their weapons to end the suffering of an animal, “mostly due to motor vehicle accidents,” police said.

Police say use of force was reported in 1.31 per cent of the total calls for service last year, up from 1.12 per cent of calls in 2024.

Police services are required to submit a Use of Force Report to the Ministry of the Solicitor General whenever an officer draws a handgun in the presence of a member of the public, points a firearm at a person, discharges a firearm, uses a weapon on another person, uses physical force on another person that results in an injury requiring medical attention, and draws, displays, points or discharges a conducted energy weapon.

The statistics show Black residents were involved in 24.5 per cent of use of force incidents with Ottawa police officers in 2025, despite only representing eight per cent of Ottawa’s population. Middle Eastern residents were involved in 10.5 per cent of use of force incidents last year, despite representing six per cent of the population.

“Black individuals were overrepresented 3.1 times their share of the population, a slight decrease from their representation of 3.3 times in 2024 use of force incidents,” said the report. “Middle Eastern individuals were overrepresented 1.8 times their share of the population, a decrease from their representation of 3.3 times in 2024 use of force incidents.”

White people were involved in 57 per cent of use of force incidents involving Ottawa police, while three per cent of use of force incidents involved Indigenous residents.

Police say Indigenous people had the “highest proportion of subjects involved in incidents where force was applied.”

“Nine out of the eleven Indigenous individuals involved in use of force encounters in 2025 were involved in an incident where force was applied,” the report said.

“In comparison, White, Black, and other racialized individuals had a similar but lower proportion (~27.8 per cent to 33.8 per cent) of involvement in encounters where force was applied, while Middle Eastern individuals had the lowest proportion of applied force involvement (18.4 per cent).”

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Application of force

Of the 298 times officers displayed or applied force in 2025, 193 incidents involved pointing a firearm or a Taser, and 105 incidents were applied force, meaning physical control, discharging a Taser or using spray.

The statistics show officers drew their handguns 143 times and pointed a handgun 125 times. There were 129 incidents where a conducted energy weapon was drawn and displayed.

Officers discharged their firearms three times in 2025, up from two times in 2024. A conducted energy weapon was deployed 55 times in 2025, up from 49 incidents in 2024.

Calls for use of force incidents:

• Weapons calls: 52 incidents
• Dispute/disturbance: 49 incidents
• Mental Health Act/Persons in Crisis: 37 incidents
• Non-Intimate Partner Violence violent crime : 31 incidents
• Warrant : 29 incidents
• Intimate Partner Violence : 28 incidents
• Stolen vehicle : 24 incidents