Getting to know young people and gaining their trust even before adolescence to prevent organized crime from plunging them into delinquency: this is the mission that the City of Laval has given itself over the next ten years to prevent crime among young people. under 35 years old.
The broad outlines of the Security and Collective Well-being Strategic Plan for the years 2024-2034 were presented to the media on Monday morning. The initiative targets adolescents and young adults under the age of 35 at risk of crime. Targeted people will be followed from the age of 12 in order to be able to have a concrete influence on their life course.
“This historic partnership in Laval that we are building together will create a stronger, safer and more pleasant city,” rejoiced Stéphane Boyer at a press briefing Monday morning.
Several events of armed violence have occurred in Laval in recent years, recalled the mayor of Laval. Despite a clear decrease in the number of shootings and an increasing number of firearm seizures, the City of Laval is now focusing on prevention in order to fight the scourge of crime among young people, in collaboration with the police department. , the health network, schools and community organizations.
Between 2019 and 2021, there was an increase in juvenile crime and violent events, almost two-thirds of the suspects were aged 17 to 21, according to figures provided by the City of Laval concerning its territory.
“The last few years have been difficult in Laval and Montreal,” admitted the mayor.
Increased police numbers, summit on public security, Centaure project to fight against firearms: several initiatives put in place have led to a clear reduction in violent events linked to firearms. “However, we must not take anything for granted, it remains something fragile,” added Mr. Boyer.
Approach “by and for young people”
Young people are at the center of these new actions aimed at making them citizens who contribute to their society in a positive way.
The prevention plan extends over ten years and includes the launch of several actions every two years. The motto: put the young person at the heart of the process by trying to understand their environment, the dynamics of the neighborhood, their family, their needs in terms of mental and physical health and at school.
On the ground 24 hours a day every day, police officers are at the forefront of societal changes, underlined Pierre Brochet, Laval police chief.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Pierre Brochet, Laval police chief and the mayor of Laval, Stéphane Boyer
“What has struck me a lot in recent years is young people. More and more young people with guns. Organized crime uses young people. There is pressure to increase criminal sentences. »
He also reiterated the importance of tackling the many causes of what leads a young person to obtain a weapon and shoot, adding that young offenders sometimes experience violence themselves.
It’s important to reach out to parents and get them to collaborate with us. It is also important that our young people feel more included in society.
Pierre Brochet, director of the Laval Police Service (SPL)
Through the Government of Canada’s Building Safer Communities Fund (FBCS), the Quebec Ministry of Public Security (MSP) has invested more than $4.6 million in this Strategic Plan.