The mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, was accused of not respecting a first electoral promise, Monday, indicating that the police would not finally get 250 police reinforcements.
At the beginning of November, in the midst of the electoral campaign, Valérie Plante had promised to “hire 250 police officers”. At a press conference, she clearly confirmed to the media that it was a “net” addition to the troops of the Police Department of the City of Montreal (SPVM), “additional” hires. The engagement followed by a few days the promise of Denis Coderre to open 250 new positions at the SPVM.
The media that covered this press conference, including Press, reported that Projet Montreal wanted to increase the number of police officers in Montreal by 250. At the time, Projet Montréal had provided only a few clarifications, leaving some vagueness.
Monday, after a report from Radio-Canada on the subject, Valérie Plante argued that it was more of a gross addition: the vast majority of the 250 hires will ultimately be used to replace retirements, which affect more 150 positions per year. The total number of police in Montreal will not increase substantially.
“It is important for me to clarify, because I do not want to leave any vagueness around these figures,” she said on Monday on the sidelines of a press conference.
For me, it has always been clear that between now and December 2022, there would be 250 police officers who would be hired, and that would include retirements.
Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montreal
She did not want to say whether the vagueness created during the campaign was intentional or unintentional.
Valérie Plante also did not want to put forward a figure for the net increase in the number of police officers in Montreal at the end of 2022.
“When we promise, we do”, says the opposition
Aref Salem, the new leader of the official opposition at Montreal City Hall, pleaded that this was the first broken promise in the Plante administration’s second term. He argued that voters understood that Mr.me Plante pledged to significantly increase the number of police officers in Montreal.
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, PRESS ARCHIVES
Aref Salem, Leader of the Official Opposition
“We all know that 250 police officers are missing. They were promised in the election campaign, whether it be Ensemble Montréal or Projet Montréal, ”said Mr. Salem. “It took 22 days for the mayor to break her first promise. […] I think it is worrying. ”
He added: “In politics, when you promise, you do. Otherwise, we don’t promise. ”
The SPVM currently has around 4,500 police officers.
The Fraternité des policemen et policières de Montréal (FPPM) also understood that Projet Montréal was committed to increasing the number of police officers in Montreal. She had also welcomed the commitment of Mme Plante: “a necessary measure which reflects a realistic vision of the state of the troops and the situation on the ground,” the organization wrote on social networks. On Monday, the FPPM did not want to comment on the file.
A forum on violence
In addition, Valérie Plante and the SPVM want to organize a summit on armed violence in Montreal, bringing together governments, police, community groups and schools.
The mayor says she is looking for solutions to the outbreak of shootings that is shaking certain neighborhoods in Montreal.
“It is important to come together to discuss how our streets, public spaces and schools remain safe,” said Mr.me Plante, Monday morning, at a press conference. “You have to share information. ”
The deputy director of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), Vincent Richer, was present at the announcement. He said the police needed the cooperation of the rest of society to tackle the phenomenon.
Together, we will ensure that armed violence is effectively combated in Montreal.
Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montreal
The mayor began her press conference by pronouncing the names of Meriem Boundaoui, Jannai Dopwell-Bailey and Thomas Trudel, the three teenagers killed since the beginning of the year in violent events in Montreal.
Press revealed Monday morning that 16-year-old Thomas Trudel was allegedly the victim of scoring, a practice which consists in committing criminal acts – up to murder – to score points against an opposing group. In the case of the teenager, he was allegedly targeted because he attended Joseph-François-Perrault high school. Mr. Richer, from the SPVM, did not want to confirm the information from The Press.
“The investigation is continuing. If I provided information about our investigation, it could harm our investigation project. We are following this very carefully, ”he said. However, he agreed to discuss the scoring, “A phenomenon that we have seen develop in recent months. The SPVM is attentive to that ”.