Barring a surprise, special constables will be equipped with cayenne pepper gel by the end of December in the metropolis. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) believes that this additional tool will help to “dissuade” anyone who wants to attack its agents.
“In his gradation, the constable, he arrives very quickly at the telescopic baton. And the telescopic baton is never elegant when you take that out. When you have intoxicated people, there is often no impact as people are so intoxicated. The pepper will have its effect,” explained Monday to The Press the general director of the STM, Marie-Claude Léonard, on the sidelines of a press conference.
His group confirmed that it will ask its board of directors on Wednesday to authorize the use of pepper spray in “exceptional circumstances” for special constables. If all goes well, they will have access to it from the end of December, according to the manager.
Our people are trained to do de-escalation, but it gives them another tool. Just knowing that they have pepper will also dissuade people from going further. This dissuasive effect can be seen in Toronto, which has already applied the measure. This prevents injuries for everyone.
Marie-Claude Léonard, CEO of the STM
In his eyes, cayenne pepper gel will allow “to control a situation more quickly than with the use of force”. As for the risks of propagation in the network, “it is certain that zero risk does not exist, but pepper gel is less volatile than pepper spray in an environment like the metro,” says the DG. “In the literature, there are not really any major incidents with this type of product. »
In short, the choice of the gel formula was made so as not to have to ventilate entire stations when used. It is more and more common in Montreal for the STM to have to evacuate metro stations and paralyze entire lines of the network because someone intentionally used an irritating gas. The phenomenon has tripled in 2022 compared to the previous year, and is 10 times higher than 10 years ago, previously reported The Press.
No more “unpredictable behavior”
The president of the STM, Éric Alan Caldwell, for his part mentioned on Monday that the level of consumption in certain sectors “makes certain behaviors very unpredictable”. “We definitely have more situations where the outcome is not clear, where it is really more complex,” he said in English.
“Basically, what we are doing here is precisely to ensure that our security personnel can manage situations with less damage and greater efficiency,” persisted Mr. Caldwell.
It was the Brotherhood of Constables and Peace Officers STM-CSN which initiated discussions in this direction. Its president Kevin Grenier claims to have requested it given “the increase in armed violence and the growing number of interventions with mentally disturbed people”.
“We are happy with the news. We will have one more option to ensure a safe intervention, for us, the clients and the person with whom we intervene,” explains Mr. Grenier.
“Close monitoring” will nevertheless be carried out to ensure the validity of the use of cayenne pepper gel, assures the STM. A user support protocol which would be “peppered” will also be put in place.
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- 17.88%
- In 2022, “323 events involving the use of force took place, which corresponds to an increase of 17.88% compared to 2019,” indicated a report from the Commission on Standards, Equity, health and safety at work (CNESST) carried out after a complaint from the union that The Press had obtained last June.