The City of Montreal Police Service (SPVM) ended the year 2024 with a significant drop in armed crime in the metropolis, one of the priorities of police chief Fady Dagher, who took office there a year. It also managed to achieve its recruitment objectives with 362 hires during the year, which allows it to count on 91 more police officers in its ranks.
Accompanied by members of his staff, the director of the SPVM, Fady Dagher, took stock of the year 2023 on Tuesday.
While the SPVM’s objective was to recruit 310 additional police officers, the SPVM managed to hire 362 police officers over the past year. Due to retirements and resignations, this means that the SPVM now has a total of 4,580 police officers, 91 more than the previous year. “This is the first time in five years that we have had a real increase in our workforce with more than 91 additional police officers. We consider our 2023 results to be excellent, but there is still a lot of work to do,” said Vincent Richer, CEO of Corporate Services. “In 2024, we plan to hire more than 400 police officers to reach full employment. »
And according to Mr. Richer, one in five recruits comes from diversity. The SPVM also says it has expanded its college studies certificate program for people who have a social studies profile. Mr. Richer specified that the SPVM had signed more than 113 employment promises.
Fight against gun violence
As for firearm-related events, their number decreased by 26% in 2023, compared to 2022. These statistics include firearm discharges, murders and attempted murders involving firearms. “This 26% drop is explained in particular by different strategies of our units at the SPVM. We can talk about police visibility, criminal investigations, prevention and intelligence,” explained Marc Charbonneau, head of the specialized services department.
The various SPVM units made 351 arrests in connection with events of armed violence and seized 774 firearms in 2023.
“Avoidable” road deaths
The SPVM has therefore put a lot of energy and resources into fighting against armed violence in 2023. Fady Dagher, however, underlined that the metropolis had recorded 30 road deaths over the last year, in addition to 148 serious injuries and 5,415 minor injuries. “We must be extremely careful with road users. These are 30 deaths that could have been completely avoided,” estimates Fady Dagher. The police chief promised that road safety would be an important issue for police officers in 2024.
Furthermore, some 33 murders were committed in the territory in 2023, including the seven deaths that occurred during the fire of a building in Old Montreal last March.
Further details will follow.