The challenges of recruiting and retaining police officers are growing, in Montreal as elsewhere in Quebec, which suggests, in the long term, a shortage of peace officers, while the needs in the field are constantly increasing, noted The duty.
The National Police School of Quebec (ENPQ), located in Nicolet, Mauricie, trains 648 police officers per year, in normal times. However, it graduated 319 fewer students than usual over a two-year period between 2019 and 2021 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. A number that should reach “355 fewer graduates” by the end of 2022, indicates to the Duty ENPQ communications manager, Véronique Brunet.
The health crisis first forced the institution’s operations to be temporarily suspended from March to June 2020. It then gradually resumed its activities. Then, in mid-December 2021, an outbreak of COVID-19 cases within the establishment again delayed the resumption, in January, of the training of several cohorts of apprentice police officers.
In order to make up for this accumulated backlog, the ENPQ wishes to increase to 756 the number of aspiring police officers trained annually within its walls, in particular by trying to attract more candidates from diverse backgrounds. “We want to increase the number, but we also want to participate in the effort to diversify the profile”, underlines Mme Brunett.
The Quebec Ministry of Public Security, which says it is “concerned” about the manpower needs of the province’s police forces, is also counting on better “integration of diverse clienteles within the ranks of Quebec police forces” as well as on “a campaign to promote the police profession intended for Aboriginal people” to tackle this issue.
Because, currently, the number of applications for admission has been declining for several years within the ENPQ. The associate professor at the School of Criminology at the University of Montreal Rémi Boivin foresees a shortage of police officers in the next few years. “This is where we will see a brutal effect”, warns the former analyst within the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
The metropolitan police force is already struggling to meet its needs. Thus, data provided by the SPVM to the Duty report, as of December 31, of 4,523 police officers “actually employed” within the police force. This is 376 police officers less than the number authorized by Quebec for 2021, “all the positions not necessarily being filled, as has been the case for a few years”, indicates the police force by email.
The president of the Brotherhood of Montreal police officers (FPPM), Yves Francœur, also notes that the metropolis is attracting “less and less” the next generation from other regions of Quebec, such as Gatineau, Rimouski and Val-d’Or. ‘Gold. “It’s much more complex and stressful to be a police officer in Montreal than in a small town in Quebec”, observes the union leader.
Police disengagement
This situation is not unrelated to the heaviness of police work in Montreal, which faced in particular a marked increase in the number of shootings last year. The strong media coverage of police interventions and the allegations of racial profiling that often ensue against peace officers also risk cooling the ardor of aspiring police officers, foresees Mr. Francœur.
“Every time we want to intercept a street gang member, we get called racist, we get accused of racial profiling,” he drops. The union leader also notes the existence of police disengagement in the ranks of the SPVM. The phenomenon, which has been studied for several months by the ENPQ, reveals peace officers who prefer to refrain from intervening in certain situations, for fear of being criticized in the public arena. This can lead some of them to experience “discouragement” or even to feel a “decline in attachment and interest in the profession”, according to a first preliminary study submitted last November by the establishment.
“It diminishes the attractiveness of the profession”, also notes Dominic Ricard, president of the Association of provincial police officers of Quebec, which represents the approximately 5,400 police officers of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ).
Thus, more and more police officers “at the beginning of their career” leave their functions after a few years of service, even if they are not eligible for retirement, notes the president of the Federation of municipal police officers of Quebec, François Lemay. “It was exceptional before,” he recalls.
The SPVM also identifies between 20 and 30 resignations per year of police officers who have barely more than 5 years of seniority, according to Yves Francœur. “Ten years ago, it was exceptional,” he also recalls.
Several sources have also reported dutyr cases of experienced police officers who have retired prematurely, or who are considering doing so because they no longer identify with the current work climate. “There are people who will say: ‘For me, it’s over. It’s not going in the right direction,” explains André Gélinas, retired SPVM detective sergeant.
“Are there people who had a plan to stay a few more years and who will leave more quickly? It is sure that we will have some,” confirms François Lemay.
Meanwhile, the police officers currently on duty in Montreal must work many overtime hours to compensate for the lack of manpower within the SPVM, which has moreover been exacerbated recently by the cases of COVID-19 identified in the police force. “All of this put together, in fact, makes it increasingly difficult to recruit and encourage people to come and work” as police officers, believes Mr. Francœur.
The SQ ensures for its part that it continues to be able to recruit all the police officers it needs. The police force, which hires about 300 officers a year, notes however that the pool of available candidates is shrinking. “We could have more difficulty in recruiting over time”, foresees Chief Inspector Patrice Cardinal.
“We have to value this profession”
In order to tackle the labor shortage, action is needed, according to the various stakeholders consulted. “We must value this profession,” insists former SPVM police officer Stéphane Wall, who is now a specialist in the judicious use of force. According to him, “mentoring programs” could for example be set up to show young people “the positive side of becoming a police officer to help their society”.
In the case of Montreal, the FPPM supports the SPVM project to reduce the number of neighborhood stations (PDQ) in Montreal. More officers could thus find themselves on the road, rather than in buildings. Otherwise, a significant increase in staff will be necessary “because for us, at present, it is cracking everywhere,” drops Mr. Francoeur.
At the City, however, it is indicated that “no formal request” for a reduction in the number of PDQs has been submitted by the SPVM to date.