Inquest jury deems Abdirahman Abdi's death after arrest a homicide, makes recommendations

The jury at a coroner's inquest deemed the 2016 death of an Ottawa man after his violent arrest a homicide, as it made more than 50 recommendations Tuesday aimed at preventing similar deaths in the future.

The jury at a coroner's inquest deemed the 2016 death of an Ottawa man after his violent arrest a homicide, as it made more than 50 recommendations Tuesday aimed at preventing similar deaths in the future.

Abdirahman Abdi, 38, died in July 2016 after police responded to a 911 call reporting that a man was groping women outside a coffee shop in Ottawa. The inquest heard that Abdi appeared to be in a mental-health crisis at the time, and that he suffered blows to his head during the arrest.

Inquest jurors are required to make a finding on the cause of death, but that carries no legal liability.

The inquest was mandatory under the law because Abdi was injured while in police custody. Its purpose was to examine the circumstances of his death, not assign blame.

After hearing several weeks of testimony from experts and key witnesses -- including the police officer who was acquitted of criminal charges in the case -- the inquest jury came back Tuesday evening with numerous recommendations for the Ottawa police force, its board and other authorities.

Those recommendations include reviewing and improving police use-of-force training and de-escalation strategies, as well as addressing anti-Black racism and biases toward people with mental-health issues.

The recommendations also call for more trauma-informed mental-health training for police officers, call takers and dispatchers.