Quebec is deploying $250 million over five years to recruit up to 450 police officers during this period to the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, where law enforcement agencies are working a significant number of overtime hours amid rising events of armed violence in the metropolis.
“It is enough, this violence in Montreal”, which has resumed in force in “the last weeks and the last months”, declared Saturday the Minister of Public Security, Geneviève Guilbault, in a press conference at the start of the day. -noon alongside the mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante and the interim director of the SPVM, Sophie Roy.
“We feel that we need to take an additional step in the face of the growing and persistent concern in Montreal,” added Ms.me Guilbault, according to whom Montrealers want to see “more police” on the streets of the metropolis.
Thus, Quebec intends to offer 45 million per year to the City to help it recruit 225 police officers within five years. Minister Guilbault specifies that Quebec and the City will aim to contribute equally to the recruitment of police officers in Montreal.
The two entities therefore set themselves the common objective of contributing to the recruitment of a total of 450 police officers in Montreal within 5 years. This would be an increase of more than 10% in the number of patrol officers at the SPVM. Geneviève Guilbault has also assured that this is an objective of recruiting police officers on the net, or taking into account, in particular, retirements.
A sum of $5 million per year will also be granted by Quebec to add 50 worker positions to the Mobile Mediation and Social Intervention Team over the next five years. In particular, this makes it possible to deploy social workers to intervene with individuals in crisis in order to defuse the situation without having to resort to the police.
A recruitment challenge
In recent days, Mayor Valérie Plante’s administration has come under heavy criticism, including from the Official Opposition at City Hall, after various media reports surfaced allegations that provincial funds earmarked at the SPVM would have been allocated to other resources. Mme Plante harshly rejected these claims, while the Ensemble Montreal party expressed concern about the prospect of a “defunding” of the Montreal police.
In fact, the actual expenditures of the police force – which often exceed those forecast in the city’s budgets – have been increasing steadily, annually, since 2016. They have also reached a peak of $745.1 million, an amount 14.5% higher than that spent in 2016, according to City data.
A significant portion of the $66 million overspent on last year’s police budget, nearly $35 million, was allocated to police overtime, however. A situation that reflects the recruitment challenges facing the SPVM in order to compensate for the voluntary departures and retirement of several of its police officers.
“We have to find a way to attract more young people of diversity to take an interest in the police,” agreed Mr.me Guilbault, who also proposed that retired police officers be called back to work. Sophie Roy for her part mentioned the possibility of increasing the salaries offered to the police.
As of August 15, the SPVM had 4,338 police officers, according to data released earlier this week by the Montreal Police Brotherhood. She then deplored a drop in police officers on the ground in Montreal, which prompted Mr.me Plante to promise the hiring of 282 additional police officers by the end of the year, without however advancing on the number of retirements and resignations which could occur in the coming months.