Seven Montreal police officers fired due to alleged racist and discriminatory acts
The SPVM fired five officers from Station 39 in Montreal-Nord and two from Station 21 downtown
The Montreal police (SPVM) have dismissed seven officers based on alleged acts of "racism and discrimination" along with alleged misconduct, announced SPVM Chief Fady Dagher at SPVM headquarters on Nov. 2.
Five of the officers fired were from Station 39 in Montreal-Nord, and two were based at Station 21 downtown. Six of them were already suspended, according to the SPVM. The officers who were dismissed gave up their badges and guns when they were suspended, according to Dagher.
"It’s a sad day, but at the same time it was needed. It was necessary to keep the trust with the police and the community,” Dagher said.
The police chief said he addressed a clear message to Montreal communities and the victims. He said this announcement broke the police silence, or "omerta."
Dagher confirmed some firings were linked to the incidents reported in June by CBC and Radio-Canada. Sixteen members of Station 39 were put under investigation for alleged "racist and discriminatory" acts committed against Black and Arab people during police stops. Dreadlocks were collected as "trophies," according to a Radio-Canada source.
The police chief did not confirm whether the layoff of one Station 39 officer was related to an alleged incident of misconduct during a domestic violence investigation, where an officer deleted evidence, as reported by CBC and Radio-Canada.
Montreal police also did not confirm at the conference whether the two dismissals at Station 21 were related to a reported incident where an officer allegedly filmed himself urinating on unhoused people, or the incident where another officer allegedly humiliated racialized people, as reported by CBC and Radio-Canada.
“I present my excuses for all the victims who went through those seven people,” Dagher said, adding that police want to rebuild that trust together with the community with an upcoming action plan.
During the Nov. 2 press conference, the SPVM did not answer individual case-specific questions.
“We won’t answer about specific files because this is an administration decision. For the other part of the investigation, criminal investigation or discipline investigation, this is [another] part. So we can’t talk about those policemen and those cases,” SPVM Deputy Director Marc Charbonneau said.
Dagher said this was an “exceptional” measure. According to Dagher, this is an independent administrative procedure that is separate from the ongoing investigation measures.
Dagher added that there is a “strong” case against these officers which is now in the hands of the Quebec Crown prosecution office (DPCP).
He added that officers can challenge their firing, but if the SPVM hired them again, they would face a disciplinary committee.
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada reacted positively to the decision, calling the work “demanding and necessary.”
“The SPVM has taken an unprecedented step toward rebuilding public trust. No one is above the rules,” Martinez Ferrada said in an electronic message to The Link.
Dagher said during the conference that criminal charges were not yet filed against the seven officers. The chief, however, said he expects justice to be done.
“I’m being honest with you when I mention that it’s about one per cent of my staff compared to 99 per cent who are doing an amazing job,” Dagher said.
Critics such as the Ligue des droits et libertés and Réseau d’aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal (RAPSIM) both disagree with the statistic he proposed.
RAPSIM Director and Spokesperson Annie Savage said what is happening on the ground does not reflect what Dagher said.
“For many years we have reported situations to the SPVM that make us say that there is a fundamental problem in the SPVM that is found in many stations. There would be concrete actions to put in place by the SPVM,” Savage said during an interview with The Link.
RAPSIM believes that change needs to happen when it comes to profiling and municipal laws regarding the SPVM.
“There are still municipal laws currently used that induce social and racial profiling; it is documented and [they] are directly and proportionally used towards houseless people,” Savage said.
When The Link asked for the exact percentage of problematic SPVM officers, Dagher cited several numbers at the conference.
“We hired 1,000 to 1,100 police officers in the last three, four years. We are talking about seven police officers out of those 1,100. No new file; [it] does not mean we don’t have others,” Dagher said. “But that serious? Those kinds of accusations and those kinds of behaviours, we don’t have more than that for now.”
The SPVM Media Relations team wrote in an email to The Link that the number of permanent police officers hired in the past four years was 971 as of Nov. 4. The SPVM refused to comment on the approximate dates at which the dismissed officers were hired due to legal obligations to protect the personal information contained in internal files of its employees.
Dagher said the action plan to avoid these kinds of situations again is being finalized and that more is to be announced in November or December.
The Link reached out to the Montreal police brotherhood for comment but did not receive an answer from the labour union, whose president, Yves Francoeur, was contesting the SPVM administrative decision as of Nov. 3, as reported by Radio-Canada.
