SPVM Annual Report | Weapons and dramas

Homicides ‘significantly increased’ in 2021, confirming surge in violent events

Vincent Larin
The Press

The impression that an outbreak of violence is hitting Montreal is confirmed. The metropolis recorded a sharp increase in crimes against the person last year, and more and more firearms were involved there.

This is revealed in the annual report of the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), which will be presented on Wednesday to elected officials responsible for public security at the City of Montreal.

Although this is a phenomenon that has been noticed across the country, and has been for several years, Montreal is no exception to the trend. No less than 25,129 crimes against the person were perpetrated there last year, or 17.3% more than the average for the previous five years and a record for 10 years.

“Although the figures show that [Montréal] is among the safest cities, this cannot prevent our strong feeling of collective indignation in the face of this violence and the death of innocent victims”, notes in the report the former director of the SPVM Sylvain Caron, position now occupied on an interim basis by Sophie Roy.

More guns

The annual report of the Montreal police confirms the impression of many that episodes of gunfire are more and more frequent in the metropolis. Indeed, half of the homicides and attempted murders committed on SPVM territory in 2021 involved the presence or use of a firearm, a problem “at the center [de ses] concerns”.

What’s more, the number of events where a firearm was discharged more than doubled in 2021 compared to the previous year, going from 71 to 144. The SPVM estimates that this phenomenon could be partly explained by a marked increase of 30% in the number of calls from citizens over the same period.

“Beyond a real increase in incidents of this type, we can think that the population is also more inclined to communicate with the SPVM when they hear gunshots, thanks to the outreach work that the SPVM teams are continuing on the ground,” the report reads.

The role of social networks

Social media is playing an increasingly important role in firearms investigations. In 2021, the SPVM noted a 68% increase in cases of this type processed by its Cyber ​​Investigation Module.

It is that social networks have become a new platform for exchanges between criminals where the tension can rise, estimates the professor of history at the Cégep de Trois-Rivières and specialist in the question of firearms Francis Langlois. “Insults and challenges escalate more radically. In social networks, language is not limited. »

Rise in sexual assault

In the wake of the red flag raised by the Montreal Crime Victims Assistance Center (CAVAC), which said last week that it had seen an explosion in the number of requests for help for sexual assault cases, this phenomenon is indeed gaining momentum, confirms the SPVM.

Thus, the number of files for these cases jumped by 32.2% last year compared to the 2016-2020 period, underlines the police force. The SPVM sees this as an “indisputable” consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic and insists on “the urgency to act”.

“The media coverage of cases brought before the courts, the filing of commission reports, including rebuild trustand a greater general awareness of the population have certainly contributed to an increase in denunciations to the police,” adds the SPVM.

Vehicle theft is on the rise

While crimes against the person are increasing, those against property are trending downward or relatively stable, with one exception. Vehicle theft exploded last year in the metropolis, a situation that worries the police forces of Quebec and Canada, specifies the SPVM.

Still, motor vehicle thefts had plateaued after a steep decline since the start of the decade.

The use of irritant gases is increasing

The SPVM used irritant gases 191 times last year, almost 4 times more often than in 2020 when this tool was used only 56 times.

The police force defends itself, however, by recalling the holding of numerous gatherings linked “to demonstrations, to various international events, to the Stanley Cup playoffs and to the national holiday of Quebec” in Montreal in 2021. would have been the context of 80% of the use of irritant gas in the metropolis.

The mayor reacts

Called to react, the office of the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, affirms that the 2021 report of the SPVM shows that the police force “has been able to adapt to the complexity of the issues which have been exacerbated by the pandemic”.

“The increase in crimes against the person committed with firearms is unfortunately a phenomenon that we observe everywhere in North America. This is why our administration has hammered home the importance of banning firearms from Canadian territory, in addition to having implemented, with the SPVM, several initiatives to curb the phenomenon and ensure safety in Montreal neighborhoods,” says the mayor’s press attaché, Catherine Cadotte.

The latter also highlights the seizure of 628 weapons last year, “and several investigations that began at that time have been resolved or will potentially be resolved this year”.

With the collaboration of Pierre-André Normandin, The Press