Lawsuit alleges Ottawa police wiretapped, surveilled five Black officers of Somali descent

A $2.5 million lawsuit alleges Ottawa police wiretapped and surveilled five of its own Black, Somali officers, hasn't told them why and accuses the service of being an institution "rife with racism and discrimination that over-polices the racialized communities it has pledged to protect."

The civil action was filed in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice by constables Liban Farah, Mohamed Islam, Abdullahi Ahmed, AhmedKhador Ali and Feisal Bila Houssein in 2023 against the Ottawa Police Services Board and three unnamed members of the Ottawa Police Service (OPS). In addition to the five officers, there are three civilian plaintiffs who are family members of two of the officers. 

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As first reported by CBC, the lawsuit alleges three wiretaps and a general warrant which included video surveillance were obtained "based on racist and stereotypical assumptions about Black persons of Somali origin." They don't know why the wiretap authorizations and general warrant were approved by a judge because they're sealed.

Farah and Islam are cousins and two of their cousins are "involved in criminal activity" and "gang-affiliated," a fact Farah said he disclosed to OPS. The lawsuit states, "the only conceivable basis upon which the OPS could have obtained the wiretaps and general warrants is by misrepresenting the relationship of Farah and Islam to their cousins."

The wiretaps and general warrant were each valid for 60 days during various times between April and August 2021. Later that year, officers and the other plaintiffs were notified by the Attorney General of Ontario that their private communications had been intercepted and some were notified they were also subjected to video surveillance.

The Plaintiffs "believe that they were the subject of wiretaps for ulterior motives in breach of their Charter rights: retaliation for their complaints about racism within the OPS, their attempts to improve the OPS and stereotypes about their kinship and familial relationships," the lawsuit states.

Accusations of racism

The court document says tension between racialized communities and the OPS came to a head after the death of Abdirahman Abdi, a Somali-Canadian man, following an interaction with officers in 2016.

The officers who filed the lawsuit say they were hired by OPS during a recruitment effort to improve the force's diversity and three of the officers, Farah, Islam and Ahmed created a report for how OPS could improve policing in marginalized and racialized areas.

The court document argues, "each of the Plaintiffs have been the target of discriminatory conduct by other OPS members who appear to have resented the Officer Plaintiffs’ efforts, subjected them to direct racial slurs, and marginalized them."

The lawsuit states that Farah was one of the officers depicted in a widely circulated racist meme in April 2020.

The court document states that on many occasions OPS officers have "asked Bila Houssein 'how he got in' and was told that white applicants have to wait longer to be hired."

When Ali was first hired one officer allegedly told him, "we all know why you're here."

In July 2021, Islam was ordered to go to an Ottawa Police station while on parental leave and shown pictures of his cousins. He said he was aware of their criminal lifestyle and had not seen or spoken to them in years.

Police then told Islam that OPS had been surveilling the home of his and Farah's aunt (their cousin's mother) and had seen a vehicle with Islam's licence plate outside the home. Islam "explained that his aunt was elderly and ill and he had attended there to support her." He added his cousins didn't live there and weren't there when he was.

Upon leaving the interview, the lawsuit alleges a staff sergeant "asked Islam if Somali youth killing each other in Ottawa stems from issues in Somali tribal culture."

The lawsuit says Islam "found the belief that murder of Somali youth in Ottawa was 'tribal' to be racist and offensive."

The document says, "the OPS perpetuated the racist prejudices and stereotypes that hiring the officers was originally meant to atone."

Existence of wiretaps "common knowledge" within OPS

The lawsuit states that the existence of the wiretaps is common knowledge within the police service and in 2021 several of the officers experienced strange interactions with other members.

According to the lawsuit, one officer allegedly pulled Bila Houssein aside and told him he was "never worried" about him.

Another sergeant told Ahmed it was "not good" that the "higher-ups" were "sixing the boys." The "boys" references the officers involved in creating the report on improving policing with racialized communities and "sixing" is a reference to wiretaps and general warrants which are authorized in part 6 of the Criminal Code.

Farah was also told by a staff sergeant that a detective had "wasted over $1 million on a wiretap investigation," the court document states. He believed this was a reference to the wiretap against the plaintiffs.

Ahmed was also allegedly told by an inspector that "what happened to you guys is f--ked up dropping a notice like that and not talking about it. I hope you're doing something about it."

Impact on officers

The lawsuit states the officers find it difficult to trust fellow officers and feel they have a target on their backs. Some family members state they're now fearful of police and worried they're being monitored even if they have "nothing to hide."

Fellow officers have been advised to keep a distance from them and have labelled them as "shady," it says.

"They notice their platoon colleagues getting opportunities in professional development to become competitive for future promotional opportunities. The Officer Plaintiffs are not," the court document states. "The Officer Plaintiff's opportunities have been stifled. Their reputation forever damaged."

One example cited in the lawsuit is when Ahmed was promoted into the homicide unit and then kicked out a few months later with no explanation and a white colleague was brought in. "Ahmed felt humiliated, disrespected and ashamed. Ahmed believes this was a result of the ongoing surveillance," according to the lawsuit.

Police board's response

In its statement of defence, the Ottawa Police Services Board denies every allegation.

The officers and civilian plaintiffs asked the Superior Court of Justice to unseal the applications for the wiretap authorizations and the general warrant in order to see what evidence was provided in order to grant them.

The statement of defence says, "the plaintiffs argued that they were targeted for interception and surveillance because of their race, ethnicity or country of origin."

The statement of defence says the Superior Court found the authorizations were obtained lawfully and that there was "no basis to find that the decision to name one or more of the Plaintiffs in any of the four applications was racially motivated or otherwise the product of discriminatory beliefs."

The court dismissed the application to unseal the first three applications but granted the application to unseal the fourth that will be provided to the plaintiffs after it is vetted by the Crown.

Through its statement of defence, the board denies alleged instances of discriminatory or differential treatment by other officers and that "…such instances, even if true, are irrelevant and do not establish a systemic practice by the OPS of abusing state power to intercept individuals based on race or ethnic origin."

About the officers

All of the officers are in good standing with performance reviews and metrics always "excellent," the court document states.

Farah was hired in 2013 and immigrated to Canada as a child in 1986.

Farah requested to be placed in low-income racialized neighbourhoods because he "grew up in these communities and understood the complex challenges faced by residents of those areas," the document states.

Islam was hired in 2016. He immigrated to Canada from Somalia in 1995. The lawsuit states Islam led an initiative to support and promote the safety of mosques in the city after the attack in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019.

Ahmed was hired by OPS in 2013 and immigrated to Canada in 1990 with his family. In 2018 he was asked by OPS to help the Outreach Recruitment Team increase the recruitment of diverse candidates.

Ali was hired in 2018. He immigrated to Canada when he was eight years old. He joined the OPS to "bridge the gap between racialized and low-income communities (like the one he grew up in) and the OPS."

Bila Houssein was hired in 2019 and was born in Ottawa. The documents state he "stopped the attacker and saved the life of one of the victims," while responding to the scene of a triple stabbing.

Islam's OPS application was originally rejected by a civilian investigator who later resigned after then-chief Charles Bordeleau overturned the decision and offered Islam a job.