Quebec police services often appear to be bad students when it comes to access to information by multiplying refusals and delays of several months.
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“The way we operate with police organizations is often as if the law on access to information did not exist,” judges Rémi Boivin, professor of criminology at the University of Montreal.
As a university researcher, Mr. Boivin frequently encounters refusals when he wishes to obtain data on different police practices, such as the use of force or the use of body cameras.
“The default reflex is always not to share data until we can prove that organizations are obliged or that it will serve their mission. With the police, it is almost never a request for access to information. It’s always a negotiation to eventually gain access,” he relates.
Sensitive files
In several of the cases identified by our journalists, police services cite the presence of personal information or investigative methods in order to refuse to provide documents, for example the locations where car thefts took place.
Rémi Boivin concedes that “almost everything that police services do is sensitive.”
But he finds that the reason for refusal for investigative methods which is present in the provincial law on access to documents is interpreted in a “very very broad” manner.
He believes that it should be clarified to what extent the law on access to information applies to police organizations.
Long delays
Year after year, police services find themselves among the organizations that most ignore the 20 or 30 day deadlines provided for by law to respond to a request.
In 2022-2023, the Commission for Access to Information (CAI) received 41 requests for review involving the City of Montreal Police Service and 35 concerning the Sûreté du Québec, for missed deadlines.
According to the CAI, “getting a timely response is crucial.”
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In Montreal, the deadlines are such that any email addressed to the access to information service is responded to with an automated message informing that the initial 20-day deadline will have passed.
The Sûreté du Québec assures that the reduction of processing times “remains at the center of concerns”.
Quebec’s highest police force recalls that it receives more than 6,000 requests annually, 96% of which “are for access to personal information, which generates significant analysis and redaction work.”
The SQ also indicates that many requests concern a large quantity of documents or audio or video recordings which are long and complex to process.
Same story at the SPVM, which says it has processed nearly 9,300 requests in 2023 alone while facing a labor shortage.
“We regret the inconvenience caused by the delay in processing that we impose on people, institutions and organizations who send us requests,” indicates spokesperson Anik de Repentigny.