The DG of the SQ to the rescue of the police of Montreal

Photo Agence QMI, Toma Iczkovits
The minister of public Safety, Martin Coiteux, and the mayor of Montréal, Valérie Plante, were shocked by the revelations of the report Bouchard on the practices of the police Department of the City of Montreal unveiled yesterday.

Laurence Houde-Roy

Thursday, December 7, 2017 01:00

UPDATE
Thursday, December 7, 2017 01:00

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The director general of the Sûreté du Québec takes the head of the Montreal police in an unprecedented action on the part of the government, sending a clear message on the urgency to reverse the climate of suspicion within the organization.

“Lax investigation “, “information deliberately removed from report” and “lack of confidence” to the chief of police. The findings of the report Bouchard, commissioned by the minister of public Safety, Martin Coiteux in the wake of the revelations of our investigation agency in February, has pushed Quebec to immediately suspend Philippe Pichet, the chief of POLICE yesterday.

In its administrative investigation the Division of internal affairs of the SPVM made public yesterday, Me Michel Bouchard also calls into question the ability and willingness of the chef Philippe Pitcher to change the methods of the SPVM.

Martin Prud’homme barter so his uniform khaki to wear the traditional blue of the SPVM over the next 12 months. It will leave temporarily his duties at the SQ, and will regain his position after his acting ended in Montreal.

Philip Pitcher has been suspended, with pay, to him who earned 294 $ 666 in 2016, according to our information.

Photo Chantal Poirier

Martin Prud’homme

Interim director of the SPVM

Continuity

“[Mr. Prud’homme] was able to conduct a significant reorganization within the SQ. […] It has all the necessary leadership to implement large-scale changes, ” assured the minister Coiteux.

But Prud’homme could face the resistance at the SPVM, in which the organization has conducted a search of the headquarters of the Montreal police in October last year.

“My mandate is to put in place measures to address the deficiencies raised in the report, and on the other hand, until the appointment of your new director, to ensure the continuity of current operations of the SPVM,” said Martin Prud’homme in a message sent to the police of Montreal in the evening.

Year difficult

The montreal police Brotherhood for its part, considers that “a colossal work” is waiting for Martin Prud’homme, and that a recovery plan should be implemented as soon as possible.

But the next year the SPVM may be particularly difficult for Martin Prud’homme, because police officers could conduct the hard life.

“The blue (police officers of the SPVM) and the greens (police SQ) have always had a good rivalry. Me, I wish him good luck “, has launched an unequivocal a former investigator with the SQ Paul Laurier. “The great difference of culture” made it so that the SPVM and the SQ have rarely been on the same wavelength, ” he said.

In the same sense, the member pq Pascal Bérubé recalls the “historic rivalries and current” between the two police forces. “This is the worst scenario “, he responded, believing that a civilian would have had to take the reins of the organization, marked by the ” power struggles “.

The leader of the opposition at Montreal city hall, Lionel Perez, think about him as the next chief of police should be a civilian. “Precisely to avoid that he is in a clan, the SPVM or SQ. It is necessary to ensure that Montrealers have confidence in their police,” he said, adding that it is necessary “to really give a big bang bar at the SPVM” to undo the systemic problems that had been dragging on since 2010.

According to our sources, Mr. Prud’homme wishes to work with the people in place and will want to make sure that his arrival was not perceived as a takeover of the SQ on the SPVM.

– Sarah Daoust-Braun, Antoine Lacroix, Kathryne Lamontagne and Jean-Louis Fortin

The damning report by 10 points

Photo Martin Alarie

The report of mr. Michel Bouchard has highlighted a number of clan wars within the SPVM.

Malaise deep

1. The investigation practices adopted by the Division of internal affairs of the SPVM need ” to be reviewed in-depth “. The report of Michel Bouchard says that ” the malaise is deep and the confidence of the police and civilian staff in respect of the directorate to a level of serious concern. “

A climate of suspicion

2. A climate of tension and suspicion is established within the SPVM. There are several frictions between the ” world of the police and the investigations “. The two groups are constantly in competition, especially during the ” race to the chiefdom, while each of the groups would like the next director to come from their world.”

Promotion system deficient

3. A promotion system flawed and undemocratic has been denounced by several police officers. The former chief Marc Parent has acknowledged its existence when the commission Chamberland. “This tense atmosphere was also installed due to the system of promotion which helps to promote, according to the clan of the gendarmerie or of the investigations, who heads the organization, a group at the expense of the other. “

No willingness to change

4. The head hung Philip Pitcher has not demonstrated during his testimony before the commission Chamberland on the protection of journalistic sources the desire to change the dynamic ” in relations between the senior management of the police service and the internal affairs “.

Bungled investigations

5. The report of bungled investigations by the POLICE, including an allegation against a police officer who is suspected of having struck a young girl at the exit of a subway. No person on the premises has not been questioned, the video tapes of the incident were not found and the case was closed three months after the filing of the complaint.

Preferential treatment

6. The police referred allegations of criminal, including managers, have received a preferential treatment. “As a result, a lot of complaints against the police would not have been communicated to the authorities of the DPCP or with those of the department of public Safety as provided by the Act on the police. “

No training

7. Police officers who joined the Division of internal affairs are assigned the investigations without receiving training on the specific mechanisms surrounding the processing of allegations of criminal targeting police officers “. An investigator, concerned with the treatment of these allegations, made meet by his superiors that ” the people of the DPCP are too stringent and that they are too much “.

Revise the Law on the police

8. Commissioner Michel Bouchard recommends to revise the Law on the police to entrust the Office of the independent investigations have the exclusive power to receive complaints and investigate police officers suspected of a criminal act.

Important challenge

9. The report Bouchard concludes by saying that the challenge will be great to regain the confidence of the troops and the population.

Lack of control

10. The report highlights the lack of control and supervision on the part of leaders. The lack of supervision of managers could ” turn into a control inappropriate for some of the leaders of the Division of internal affairs, in respect of an investigation entrusted to one of their subordinates “.