Visit-surprise police in 75 bars in Quebec

QMI agency

Sunday, February 25, 2018 08:34

UPDATE
Sunday, February 25, 2018 08:36

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More than 75 bars in ten regions of Quebec have received the visit of police officers, Saturday evening, in the framework of a joint operation between the Sûreté du Québec and several municipal police departments.

The “operation TARGET” (Dialogue against bullying in the bars fired with the team of intelligence) was intended to demonstrate the strength of the police services in quebec. The police hoped, by their presence, send a message to the people who use these places in the course of illegal activities, in particular organized crime and drug trafficking, according to the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).

“This is not a crackdown, it is intended to send a clear message that it is there and that it takes these records seriously,” said Louis-Philippe Bibeau, a spokesman for the SQ. It is also to show that we are here to provide assistance to the tenants of these institutions.”

The SQ is hoped that this new operation will make the owners more inclined to entrust to the police information on potential criminal activities. Other police operations are expected to further protect these people against intimidation they may incur in order to keep the silence.

Eight municipal police departments, including those from Quebec, Gatineau, Lévis, Trois-Rivières and Granby, have taken part in the operation on Saturday night.

An effective strategy

The “operation TARGET” is inscribed in the continuity of the operation, Synergy, completed in November last, and whose efficacy has been proven, according to Mr. Bibeau.

“Operation Synergy was a pilot project, in order to establish a strategy to collect information, he added. With “TARGET”, we put this strategy in motion on a permanent basis.”

According to the review published in November by the SQ, Synergy has allowed us to identify “more than one hundred individuals of interest” and stop the three. However, it was impossible to know Sunday if arrests have been made in the framework of the “operation TARGET”, although the SQ has confirmed that people have been controlled.