In response to a research report which concludes that mixed squads harm people experiencing homelessness, the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) said it believes that the diversification of services “was beneficial to the beneficiaries”.
These squads, which mostly combine social workers or health workers with police officers, were developed in Montreal in reaction to criticism of “social profiling” against the homeless population.
The SPVM sees this as a way “to offer a service better suited to people in vulnerable situations by avoiding recourse to repression,” said Anik de Repentigny, communications officer for the police force.
“In our opinion, we have every interest, every advantage in working to join our efforts to offer the best possible service to the population,” reacted Mme from Repentigny. Working as a team, in complementarity, brings added value to our work, to our interventions, because there is sharing of knowledge, experience and expertise. »
The SPVM also states a “shared responsibility” and ensures that it is not “in competition with community organizations”.
Critics
The research report led by Ted Rutland of Concordia University shares the voices of 38 community stakeholders in Montreal. According to them, “mixed squads are an obstacle to the work of the workers and make their work more complex”.
One of the main negative impacts of mixed squads would be the multiplication of interventions in the living environment of people experiencing homelessness, making spaces more hostile to their presence.
The report notably proposes the abolition of mixed teams and the transfer of their funding to the community sector.
With the collaboration of Lila Dussault, The Press