Fraud Prevention Month unites police and Burundian community

In a city as diverse as Ottawa, stories of hardship and resilience quietly unfold every day. But during Fraud Prevention Month, one story rose above the noise—an unforeseen, transformative partnership between a grassroots organization and local law enforcement that allowed a community to finally speak up.

During a Black History Month event at the police station, Camille Kamanzi, founder of Burundi We Want, shared the challenges facing his community with Sergeant Chabine Tucker of the Diversity & Race Relations section. This conversation sparked plans to build a stronger connection between the Burundian community and the police.

Later, Burundi We Want and the Ottawa Police Service co-hosted an event that proved to be a turning point for many: people who had long suffered in silence under the weight of fraud and fear of authority felt safe enough to come forward.

“We’ve had over 40 people report being victims of labour fraud,” explains Camille Kamanzi, founder of Burundi We Want. “Some were made to work for months without pay—sometimes by someone from our own community.”

Yet the pain was compounded by fear. “They don’t see the police here as different from what they left behind,” Kamanzi shares. “One man told me a police officer back home shot a child during a protest. That’s what they carry with them.”

But Kamanzi has been working hard to repair the relationship between the Burundian community in Ottawa and our police service. “We cannot do all this work by ourselves,” he says. “We do need the help from the police.”

Kamanzi sees heritage and awareness months—Black History Month, Muslim Heritage Month, Crime Prevention and more—as strategic opportunities to bring together the Burundian community in Ottawa and their local police service.

“We have a venue,” Kamanzi explains. “We have people that are experiencing fraud, and then we read the theme of the month [in an Ottawa Police news release] being Fraud Prevention, and it all comes together.”

But many asylum seekers arrived in Canada with deep-seated mistrust of law enforcement—born from experiences in countries like Burundi.  “We were afraid people would attend but stay silent. But we were wrong.”

Officers came in uniform, shared coffee, listened, and made space for stories to show the uniform can stand for safety and care.

And then, something shifted.

“People started standing up,” Kamanzi describes. “Some couldn’t speak French or English, but they asked others to translate. They said, ‘I have something I need to get off my chest.’”

One by one, they spoke.

“They shared their stories. They explained what happened to them. They asked for help.” The event was supposed to run until 5 p.m., but it lasted well into the evening. The Diversity and Race Relations Unit who gave the presentation, along with Cst. Vallee and Cst. Prince-Finkelstein from D platoon, stayed until everyone was heard.

The success of the event sparked new momentum. Plans are now underway for broader town halls and forums aimed at reconnecting Ottawa’s Black and newcomer communities with the police, using themed months as bridges to continue important conversations.

“I want to continue to provide that platform for community members,” Kamanzi says, “and hopefully build that relationship again.”

“[Police officers] are humans, too. They make mistakes. We make mistakes. But at the end of the day, we need each other.”

The reports of fraud are currently under investigation by the Ottawa Police Service, and victims of fraud are encouraged to come forward and file a report.