The early retirement of the director of the SPVM, Sylvain Caron, gives us the opportunity to reflect together on the type of police and public security that we want to have in Montreal. However, the question turns out to be more complex and multidimensional than it seems.
Posted at 11:00 a.m.
For the first time, Montrealers will be officially consulted about the selection of a new director of police. Following a recommendation issued by the OCPM in its report on systemic racism, Projet Montréal announced the holding of a public consultation in the fall. The nature of this consultation is the subject of criticism, and for good reason. If many citizens would have preferred to give their opinion on the candidates, Projet Montréal will only consult the population “on the criteria, on the vision, on the qualities that are sought”.
The question, however, goes far beyond the qualities of the future director or the various candidates. It suffices to look to the past to see this. The city’s best police chief was Roland Bourget, who served as director from 1985 to 1989. Bourget was aware of the evolution of police practices elsewhere in the world and aware of the need to respond to the growing demand for a reform of the police system in Montreal.
Most of the reforms that we now call “new” actually date back to the time of Bourget: an ambitious training program on multiculturalism, initiatives to promote the hiring of racialized police officers and the strengthening of dialogue and working with communities.
While these measures had very little effect on issues such as racial profiling and police violence, they did initiate a process of reform that could have led to concrete changes.
allies in power
Bourget could, and should, work with allies. For most of his term, the municipal party in power was the Montreal Citizens’ Rally (RCM). The RCM had a clear and progressive vision of public safety. The party maintained ties with communities harmed by the status quo, and used its influence to press for reform of the police system, even before it took office in 1986. It is in this perspective that the RCM has collaborated with Bourget to develop the police.
But this wind of change was however out of breath with the arrival of Yves Prud’homme at the head of the Fraternity of police officers of Montreal in 1988.
If his predecessors had tackled fundamental labor issues, such as the salary and working conditions of police officers, the new president, for his part, has been busy organizing a movement among the officers in opposition to Bourget and the reforms he proposed.
One example of Prud’homme’s resistance took place in 1987, in response to Bourget’s criticism of the policeman who killed Anthony Griffin that same year. Prud’homme then published an open letter, signed by 3,338 of the 3,700 police officers, to question Bourget’s legitimacy and his loyalty to his subordinates.1.
Prud’homme continued his efforts to curb police reforms until 1994, when the RCM left the town hall and when a director who was little inclined to curb racial profiling or police violence arrived at the head of the SPVM.
Opportunities for progress are slim
At the dawn of the replacement of Sylvain Caron, we must recognize the undeniable influence that the municipal administration and the Brotherhood have on the director of police. At present, the possibilities for progress are very slim. Indeed, unlike the RCM, Projet Montréal does not seem to want to develop its own vision of public safety (the opposition party, Ensemble Montréal, is even worse). The party relies instead on the SPVM for the management of issues related to the maintenance of order and public safety in general.
At the same time, the Brotherhood, under the aegis of its current president, Yves Francœur, uses its influence to block any possibility of police reform.
A future director of the SPVM who would like to eliminate racial profiling, for example, would have to deal with a director of the Fraternité who believes that this problem is only a myth.
If the importance of the next police director is undeniable, his actions will be part of a political context defined by the municipal administration and the Brotherhood. As Montrealers begin the process of selecting a new director, it is time to demand that Projet Montréal develop its own vision of public safety (a vision that is independent of the police).
And above all, it’s time to ask yourself if the enormous power of the Brotherhood is compatible with democracy, or even with public safety.
1. Suzanne Colpron, “The police raise their voices against Bourget”, The Press, August 6, 1988