No addicted to the security linked to the “pants of a clown”, are in support of the police

Photo archives Agence QMI

Kathryne Lamontagne

Wednesday, September 6, 2017 17:15

UPDATE
Wednesday, September 6, 2017 17:22

Look at this article

The “pants clown” worn by police officers and special constables at a means of pressure have not identified any safety issue, argue the opponents of the draft law requiring the wearing of the uniform.

• READ ALSO: Still “pants clown”?

The public hearings on bill 133, took place on Wednesday at the national Assembly. Filed by the minister of Security, legislative aims to require the police and the special constables not to alter the uniform, in particular for reasons of security.

“We hope that it will ever happen, but if there was, for example, a terrorist attack in Quebec and that people faufilaient in the ranks of police officers, not in uniform […] In emergency responses, in moments where there might be confusion, it is necessary to ensure the safety of everyone in the world”, has shown the minister Martin Coiteux.

The speech was echoed at the Association des directeurs de police du Québec, which, without pointing to specific cases, asserts that the stickers, caps and pants of camouflage can lead to confusion. “You have people who do not answer the door because they are not confident that they are police officers”, said vice-president Danny McConnell.

No addicted

These arguments do not take into the road, according to the police officers and special constables. “This has always been a priority for us, it is not to affect the safety of the citizens and the quality of services to citizens,” assures the president of the Fraternité des policiers et policières de Montréal (FPPM), Yves Francoeur.

Same sound of bell on the side of the Union of special constables, which has not listed any addicted to the security in the execution of its tasks. Even the inspector-in-chief Patrick Bélanger, of the Sûreté du Québec, who is in favour of bill 133, has not been able to evoke in its ranks.

Report of strength

Police officers and special constables require the withdrawal of the draft law, which infringes the fundamental rights and diminish their power in negotiations. As they are deprived of the right to strike, alter the uniform remains the “only” way to be visible, they say.

“They want us to gag,” said Robin Côté, president of the Federation of municipal police of Quebec. “If the law allowed us to make the only means of pressure that will not disappoint, this would not be a means of pressure,” she said Yves Francoeur, “shocked by the excessive anti-trade union government”.

Nothing to shake the minister Coiteux, who replied that the unions have other means to express their disagreement, without, however, naming them.