After two recent attacks in courthouses, the Quebec government announced Monday that it will invest $31 million to improve security there, in particular by installing metal detectors.
The injection of funds was announced by the Minister of Justice Simon Jolin-Barrette and the Minister of Public Security François Bonnardel, at the Longueuil courthouse.
The location was not chosen at random: it was there that a court interpreter was attacked with a knife last January, an attack which reignited the debate on security in courthouses. Last month, a worker from the Youth Protection Department (DPJ) was attacked at the Sherbrooke courthouse.
The money announced will be distributed as follows, indicates Quebec: 7.6 million for the addition and modernization of equipment – including metal detectors at entrance doors – and 23.4 million for training and hiring special constables who provide security in courthouses and their courtrooms.
Security arches will be added gradually in 2024 and 2025 in nine courthouses, starting with those in Longueuil, Laval and Joliette.
Then, metal detector arches will be added in the courthouses of Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Chicoutimi, Sherbrooke and Gatineau. The one in Montreal has already had one for several years.
Regarding the addition of special constables, the two ministers recall that the rate of training at the National Police Academy of Quebec had already doubled in 2023 and that it has just been accelerated again. Quebec therefore hopes that this will allow the training of four cohorts of special constables by the end of 2026.
“Although isolated, the recent events that occurred at the Longueuil and Sherbrooke courthouses have shaken us all. It is important to quickly restore a feeling of security to the population,” declared Minister Jolin-Barrette.