Good Cop, Bad Cop | Press

Bill 18, tabled Wednesday by the Minister of Public Security, Geneviève Guilbault, will help change police culture in Quebec. Among other things, it tackles racial profiling and prohibits police officers from arresting anyone on grounds of discrimination.

It also gives more powers to the Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI) which can look into any criminal incident involving a police officer. For fans of the series District 31, it is as if the investigation launched concerning the detective sergeant Bruno Gagné landed on the desk of Mélissa Corbeil, in the Service of the independent investigations, rather than in the internal affairs of the police force.

These new legislative measures, if adopted, will mark one more step in the transformation of Quebec police forces.

Because the police as we have known it for decades struggles to meet the new needs that emerge within the population. It must change, adapt. On the South Shore, the director of the Longueuil agglomeration police department, Fady Dagher, understood this very well.

Our colleague Caroline Touzin told this week how the police officers of the new RESO, the social and organizational support network, were going to deploy. It is about a police force which will work in immersion in its environment. She will be the link between citizens in difficulty and organizations in the field. A police force that will try to catch up with people in difficulty before it is too late.

This approach, Fady Dagher had favored when he headed the police department of Saint-Michel, and it had borne fruit.

But this small revolution in Longueuil goes much further than the establishment of a new brigade. It is all the recruitment of police officers and policewomen that is reviewed by Director Dagher and his team.

A selection that relies more on the human skills of the candidates: emotional intelligence, sensitivity and open-mindedness give additional points to hiring files, as does volunteering, a certain knowledge of mental health issues, involvement in the community, etc.

In short, the big guys who swear by the hard method will have to adapt to this new approach to police work. To those who are upset that the police are forced to play the role of social workers, Fady Dahger replies that the vast majority of calls received by his service concern mental health issues. He explained very well that the “one call, one car” logic had become untenable and unproductive.

Of course, this does not mean that there are no more traditional patrols, that we no longer fight arms trafficking, drug dealers, pimps and fraudsters. The new approach put forward by Chief Dagher only means that the Longueuil police service is expanding its toolbox. He is transforming to better meet the needs of his society.

Not only is this an excellent strategy in response to those calling for the definancing of the police, but this new role is by no means incompatible with the very nature of police work. The concept of security is broad and also encompasses the psychological security of citizens.

Yes, we must denounce the lack of mental health services. We are also impatiently awaiting the plan of Minister Lionel Carmant scheduled for early 2022. But by focusing on a more human approach, the police of tomorrow can do more for the social fabric than by disembarking in explosive situations armed until teeth.

That said, Chief Dagher is transparent. He admits that his project has encountered some resistance among his troops. Completely normal resistance to which the police chief responds firmly, trying to rally everyone by force of example. This is called positive leadership.

This positive leadership, so necessary, unfortunately seems to be lacking at the other end of Highway 20, at the Quebec City Police Department. Two weeks ago, video of a brutal arrest toured the media and sparked several inquiries. Today we’re down to four different videos and three BEI investigations, in addition to internal and ethics investigations. They will teach us more about the context of the interventions and the possibly problematic behavior of several police officers, including one in particular who seems to have been involved in several incidents.

But beyond these facts, questions arise about the culture that reigns within the SPVQ. Some of the events being investigated date back to last July. No one had sounded the alarm until now?

Does this mean that this kind of behavior is tolerated internally? Or that the chief of police, Denis Turcotte, who took office last May, was not aware of what was going on in his own department? Somehow his leadership is seriously shaken in this avalanche of bad news. He announced Thursday a project to make his police officers aware of unconscious bias and diversity. Time will tell if this is a reaction or a deeper reflection.

Perhaps he should take inspiration from his colleague Fady Dagher. Because the future of the police is in Longueuil that it is.