The new squad dedicated to the fight against armed violence of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) will be deployed at the beginning of September. ARRET, for action, repression, resolution, commitment and field, will have a total of 68 police officers who will be “fully released” from daily patrol.
Posted at 12:33 p.m.
Updated at 12:46 p.m.
It was the police force that confirmed these new details on Tuesday morning, a few days after The Press revealed the imminent creation of this new corporate team, a decision taken in the wake of the multiplication of events of armed violence in the metropolis.
In a press release, the SPVM also specifies that the team in question “could be deployed anywhere on the entire territory where action against armed violence must be carried out”. It is not known how long the unit will be in operation, its duration remaining for the moment “undetermined”.
“It will have the task of disrupting the activities of violent criminal groups by occupying the ground, collecting intelligence and intervening directly with their members”, also indicate the authorities, specifying that the primary objective is “to increase the pressure on the criminal elements at the origin of the violent events”, by enhancing “the feeling of security” of the population.
The patrollers taking part in the project will be “entirely released from responding to calls and will be able to use their knowledge of the field, their expertise in investigation and intelligence”, insists the Montreal police, who also say that they carried out an investigation last Friday. “temporary enhancement” of the resources and personnel of the ECLIPSE squad, the SPVM strike group assigned to trouble spots in the city.
Who’s the bill?
Earlier, Thursday, The Press revealed that the SPVM will assume the costs of the new unit for the time being. According to our sources, the interim director of the SPVM, Sophie Roy, is currently in discussion with the City of Montreal and the Ministry of Public Security to obtain financial support. The office of Minister Geneviève Guilbault said on Tuesday that it welcomed the arrival of the new unit, as did “any operation aimed at reducing violence in our neighborhoods”.
Cohorts of the National Police School of Quebec intended exclusively for the SPVM, recall of retired police officers, training of new units or reinforcement of existing units: the management of the SPVM is also studying various measures to deal with armed violence in the metropolis.
“What is currently happening on the island of Montreal challenge enormously. These are new challenges, so it takes new means and new ways of doing things. We formed a committee of experts at the SPVM, with a variety of expertise, and I told them: “We have to think outside the box” “said Sophie Roy in an interview.
On Wednesday, at a press conference, the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, had sent a direct message to the criminal world. “Montreal is not going to become the playground of criminals. It’s no. But that requires energy, and manpower”, she said, claiming to have “asked for a solution at the source and adapted to Montreal” at the National Police School to manage to “recruit more staff” police in the coming months.
The mayor also aims to “maximize mixed squads and give more oxygen to the police.” With the help of Quebec and Ottawa – which is not quantified, like all the other commitments – the City finally intends to “increase the resources in the boroughs” and the neighborhood stations.
With Daniel Renaud, La Presse