The streets of the metropolis were again marked this weekend by several violent incidents, with the lifting of health measures. The duty was able to follow for the very first time the Multisectoral Team dedicated to firearms (EMAF) during a search on Monday, when the police multiply their interventions so that this return to “normal life” be done without violence and without weapons.
“The pressure from Montrealers is there, we feel it, and we also put it on ourselves because we want to stop this violence,” said the commander of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) James Paixao. , in an interview on Monday.
The reopening of the bars has been hectic, he agrees, but the police are working hard to ensure peace of mind in all parts of the city. “Obviously, we see it, since the bars are open in the city center, there is violence happening around these establishments. These are places where our criminal gangs hang out and intersect. Will there be a resurgence? We hope not. We are ready, our teams are ready, ”he assures.
On this spring Monday, the commander is waiting in an unmarked vehicle for the green light that will let us approach the scene of a major search targeting members of a street gang in Saint-Léonard.
“We want citizens to be able to live in their neighborhood without being afraid,” said the man who heads the section against organized crime in the southwestern division.
Over the past year, numerous shootings have taken place, particularly in neighborhoods in the north and east of the city, causing several collateral victims, including teenagers.
In 2021, there were 520 events in which a firearm was present, used or not, real or fake, according to SPVM data. In January 2022, there are already 44. As for the seizures, they allowed the police to get their hands on 674 firearms last year.
High mobility suspects
The operation we are witnessing stems from an investigation that began in mid-January following an event involving a 14-year-old boy with gunshot wounds. The police had been called to help him while he was in a dwelling at the intersection of chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges and avenue du Docteur-Penfield, in the borough of Ville-Marie. “The young man called 911, but he was not cooperative afterwards,” explains Commander Paixao. The suspects had left the area before officers arrived.
The mobility of suspects is also one of the main challenges for investigators. “What we see a lot are young people moving around in different neighborhoods. They rent an apartment for a very short period, make it their den for a few weeks and then move on to another apartment to avoid getting caught, he notes. It is often a race against time. »
After two months of investigation, two individuals were identified by the police. “The primary purpose of this investigation is to trace the weapon and the person who allegedly discharged it, but it may lead us elsewhere,” said Commander Paixao.
A Glorification of Weapons
It is around 8 a.m. when the eight members of the EMAF leave the offices of the operational center of the borough of Saint-Laurent.The duty boarded with two detective sergeants from the squad, formed last November to fight against the glorification of weapons among young people.
“In this case, the most plausible hypothesis is that the teenager was injured following an accidental detonation”, explains one of the investigators, whose identity must be preserved for reasons of security.
According to them, the cost of a handgun hovers around $5,000 to $6,000 “on the street”. Young people often acquire it in groups to have shared custody. “They are linked to a very spontaneous, very impulsive street gang, and the use of weapons is often done in order to live the experience,” adds his colleague. “Intimidating, making music videos, wanting to impress… the gun, it elevates your status, you show that you are able to defend yourself. »
Around 9 a.m., the duo parked near the place where the strike would take place. Investigators expect to find weapons guns, ammunition, narcotics and counterfeit iPhones.
Since the individuals may be armed, officers from the Tactical Intervention Group lead the way. Three individuals will be arrested in the minutes that follow, in a 3 ½ they share in an anonymous building in Saint-Léonard. Two of them are minors. We can guess that they were far from suspecting that the police had them in their sights. The detective sergeants point out that the apartment is not even furnished. The three suspects slept there on mattresses on the floor. The three young people are impassive, their heads lowered, when the police take them on board. On the scene, the investigators find practically everything they were looking for.
In the next few hours, these young people should be charged with possession for the purpose of drug trafficking, possession of a prohibited firearm as well as fraud related to counterfeit telephones.
The duty leaves the scene, but the investigators will continue their work for a good part of the day. Crossing the city, Commander Paixao maintains that the situation in Montreal is under control. “When we compare Montreal to all the big cities, we can say that we are a safe city. »
The fight against firearms also requires a change in culture. “The police cannot deal with this violence alone. Our work is the repression of crimes, but fighting the trivialization of this violence is work that goes beyond us, it is work for society, ”he argues.