Ottawa Police Chief Sees ‘No Evidence’ of Racist Officers Despite Investigation into Cop’s Racist Rant

Ottawa's police chief says he's seen "no evidence to indicate there are racist officers" on his force, days after offensive remarks about deceased Inuit artist Annie Pootoogook appeared under the name of an Ottawa police officer in an online comment section.

In an interview with CBC Radio on Thursday, Chief Charles Bordeleau called the comments "inappropriate," but said "all humans have biases" that they have to learn to control in such a way that they don't impact their work. Pootoogook's death is being investigated by the police's Major Crimes Unit, which has indicated there are "suspicious elements" in the case. Her body was found in the Rideau River last week. On Monday, the Ottawa Police Service began probing a complaint against an unidentified officer, after a member of the public drew their attention to comments allegedly made by Sergeant Chris Hrnchiar that dismissed Pootoogook's death as "not a murder case." "It could be a suicide, accidental, she got drunk and fell in the river and drowned who knows," said the now deleted posts, which appeared under an Ottawa Citizen article about Pootoogook. "Typically many Aboriginals have very short lifespans, talent or not." READ MORE: Why the Ottawa Cop Who Made Racist Facebook Comments Likely Won't Be Held Accountable The second comment went on to say: "Because much of the aboriginal population in Canada is just satisfied being alcohol or drug abusers, living in poor conditions etc… They have to have the will to change, it's not society's fault." Bordeleau insisted the comments didn't reflect the values of the Ottawa Police Service, its members' views, or his own. But he stopped short of calling the comments racist, although he acknowledged "hearing that they're being seen as being racist comments." "Regardless of the intent, it's about the impact those comments are having on the community," he said. Bordeleau said the officer being investigated remains on active duty, and that he didn't believe making racist comments met the threshold of being a fireable offense, although he'd have to "check case law with respect to what is happening in the police world." "He's in a capacity where, from my perspective, he doesn't need to be removed from his duties right now as we continue this investigation," Bordeleau said. "We'll be working with him and our officers will be interviewing him and ascertaining exactly the circumstances and the context around why he would make such, such, these comments." "They're either conscious or unconscious biases, and we have to do everything we can to make sure… [they] do not impact the work we do," he said. "Those biases exist in any profession… We're human beings." "We make mistakes as human beings, but every member of the [force] cares passionately about their community. They care passionately about Annie. They're very saddened by her death because they knew her, they dealt with her," Bordeleau said. Bordeleau echoed comments made by Halifax police chief last week when he said the perception that his police force has a racism problem was reflective of a "trend across society." Ottawa police came under fire in July when 37-year-old Abdirahman Abdi, a Somali-Canadian man who suffered from mental health issues, died following an altercation with police, the aftermath of which was caught on video. Abdi's death is currently being investigated by the Special Investigations Unit, Ontario's police watchdog. The death prompted accusations of racism, and at the time Bordeleau denied that the arrest would have happened differently if Abdi had been a white man. "You look at the issues happening in the States," Bordeleau began, before being cut off by the interviewer. "That's a trend that's happening in policing with respect to public trust and confidence. We're seeing an erosion across the sector that people are losing trust or confidence in their police force." Follow Tamara Khandaker on Twitter.