Ottawa Police Services says it's reached a settlement with the family of Abdirahman Abdi, a Somali-Canadian man who died after a violent arrest by two Ottawa police officers in 2016. The Abdi family launched a $1.5 million civil lawsuit against the Ottawa Police Services Board, former Ottawa police chief Charles Bordeleau, and the constables involved in his arrest, Daniel Montsion and David Weir. The Ottawa Police Services Board announced during a public meeting Monday that the agreement had been reached. The statement notes the Abdi family is "encouraged" by OPS's development of a mental health response strategy and have asked the community "to work co-operatively in pursuit of this goal." But several community members and mental health professionals criticized the report, saying police should not be involved in response at all.

Source: CBC News January 26, 2021 01:23 UTC