Fighting Disorganized Crime | The Press

The summer promises to be hot, and we are not talking about the weather. Three shootings took place in Laval last week. In Montreal, a man was shot in broad daylight in the Saint-Michel district. Nothing to reassure the population when we know that incidents involving firearms are on the rise. For the year 2021, there were 208 events involving gunshots in Montreal, 75 more than the previous year. And, according to the SPVM, an event involving a firearm has taken place every two days since the beginning of 2022.

The police tell us that young criminals don’t behave like they used to. “They are impulsive and disorderly,” said assistant director of Laval police investigations, Jean-François Rousselle, on RDI a few days ago. If there was a certain “code of conduct” within criminal groups before, it no longer seems to hold today. We now speak of “disorganized” crime.

How long before we relive a tragedy like the death of young Meriem Boundaoui, Amir Benayad, Thomas Trudel and Jannai Dopwell-Bailey, all shot?

No, the metropolitan area is not a “wild west” as some claim. On the other hand, citizens are right to ask questions about their safety. And they are entitled to be reassured.

The good news is that the various police services in the greater metropolitan area, as well as the Sûreté du Québec, seem to be in collaboration mode. This is all the more productive as the incidents do not know the borders of the cities: many originate on social networks. Moreover, an intervention in Laval will necessarily have repercussions in Montreal and Longueuil. Perhaps the time has come to set up a more official intervention force to combat armed violence and street gang warfare.

On Friday, the four police chiefs met with the Minister of Public Security, Geneviève Guilbault, to discuss the strategy to adopt for the coming summer. She seems very open to their requests. If there is a shortage of police officers on the ground, now is the time to raise your hand and call for additional resources. Quebec seems receptive, you have to take advantage of it.

The Association of Quebec Police Directors also wants to act on the legislative level.

She opposes Bill C-5, which seeks to amend the criminal code and the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. Remember that the Trudeau government was committed to combating the overrepresentation of Indigenous, Black or marginalized Canadians in the criminal justice system. How ? By abolishing mandatory minimum sentences (MMPs) for certain offenses related to the possession of drugs, firearms and tobacco products. Bill C-5 instead provides for the use of community sentences.

Police chiefs fear the bill sends the wrong message, but the issue of PMOs is very complex. There is no indisputable causal link between the threat of a severe penalty, on the one hand, and the reduction in this type of offence, on the other. In some cases, this threat can have a deterrent effect, but it is not systematic. Several factors must be considered and the conclusions are far from being cut with a knife, as shown by numerous studies.

Moreover, many organizations, including the Canadian Bar Association, are in favor of Bill C-5. That doesn’t seem like the right nail to tap on.

Rather, we believe in the presence of police forces on the ground, in investigations, in operations like Centaure, which has led to hundreds of weapons seizures since its creation. And, above all, we believe in prevention in the communities. This is an approach to be preferred, even if the results will be observed in the longer term.

Prevention is often seen as too soft of an approach by hardliners. It’s normal. It takes time to change mentalities and police culture. But the idea is gaining ground. The theme of Police Week, which continues until May 21, is “Better understanding each other: the police and the citizen”. It is also in the quality of this relationship that part of the solution to the fight against crime lies.