Police apologize after 911 call where white woman reports Black man in Ottawa park

Ottawa police have apologized for how they handled an incident where a white woman called 911 on a Black man in a park, leading the operator to tell the man he's intimidating the woman.

The incident was posted on Twitter and shows a woman walking by a lone man while describing him on the phone to a 911 operator.

The man who posted the video said it was taken by his brother, and said the woman called police because his brother wasn't two metres away from her while they crossed a bridge.

In the video, the woman turns the call on to speakerphone and the operator talks directly to the man to tell him he's intimidating the woman.

"Sir... do we really need to send a police officer just for you let this girl by?" the operator asks.

"I'm not stopping her from coming by," said the man before being interrupted.

"You're intimidating her, sir, OK, can you just stand to the side?" the operator says, as the man replies that he's already standing to the side.

The man remains at a distance from the woman throughout the video and she eventually walks away while still on the phone.

The police force replied to the Twitter video and said they have spoken with the man who posted it to offer a "full and unreserved apology."

"We are fully reviewing this incident," said Ottawa Police on Twitter.

"At this point it is clear that this was not an appropriate use of the 911 system and the Service did not act appropriately in handling the call."

Police said no charges have been applied related to the incident at this time.

This Karen & her buckled knees decided to call the cops on my lil bro for crossing a BRIDGE because it’s not 6 feet in width. She was the assisted by @OttawaPolice who you hear telling him that he’s intimidating her, when they weren’t even there. @JimWatsonOttawa , train them plz pic.twitter.com/DaJ3hRbPnT

— Joakim (@IceFresh2) July 6, 2020