Not only do the “mixed squads” of police intervention in Montreal not help people experiencing homelessness, but they even have a harmful effect on their lives, concludes a new research report based on the experiences of security workers. Street.
The report Innovation or extension of repression?of which The duty obtained a copy, gives the floor to 38 field workers who report their experiences and that of their users with the “mixed squads”, that is to say intervention teams combining an SPVM police officer with a social worker or a healthcare worker.
These squads have multiplied in recent years, as a response from the City of Montreal and the SPVM to situations which they believe require a different approach, such as mental health problems or others arising from the marked increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness.
But if the objectives seem well-intentioned — to promote cohabitation and direct vulnerable people to the right services — on the ground, nothing is going well, denounces the Assistance Network for Single and Itinerant People of Montreal (RAPSIM), which has more than 110 member organizations.
“Faced with a laudatory media enthusiasm for these so-called “social” approaches, the members of RAPSIM were stunned to note the gap between the discourses conveyed (for example by the police, municipal authorities and the media) and the realities that they face daily on the ground,” wrote Jérémie Lamarche, community organizer at RAPSIM, as an introduction to the report.
There is little data and evaluation of the effectiveness of these squads, he adds. That’s why this research report, led by Concordia University professor Ted Rutland — who specializes in urban policy — offers the perspective of field workers in collaboration with RAPSIM.
The report emphasizes that the point of view of these workers has certain limitations, in particular because several had only observed one or two squads.
Hard facts
Unlike police officers who arrive in response to 911 calls, most mixed squads intervene instead by patrolling specific areas. There are therefore more and more police officers in the living environments of the homeless — in the absence of any offense. This results in “increased surveillance”, which increases their stress and their vulnerability, in particular because when they see a police officer, they wonder if they risk being arrested.
Certainly, in certain squads, there is a social worker, the same profession carried out by many street workers: but there is almost always a police officer: “you have a police uniform, you are police. […] you represent all the rest of the other officers who are not usually nice to you,” the report reads. It can rekindle trauma and trigger crises, adds another speaker.
And then, these squads do not meet the needs of homeless people: they aim to move them away from the eyes of citizens disturbed by the presence of poverty near their homes, criticizes the report.
The squads also hinder their own efforts, street workers say. Because their work involves the development of relationships over time.
“We try to create bonds of trust so that young people know that there is a safe space where they can go. But if after that, we’re seen with the police, it’s a bit like “well, are they saying information about me? Do you work with the police? Are you going to denounce me?’ This sows distrust and confusion about their role, they add.
Not to mention that these squads monopolize government funds that could otherwise be offered to community organizations, it is emphasized.
The report’s key recommendation is to scrap all mixed squads and create an entirely civilian one, to respond to calls involving people experiencing homelessness and those that do not involve a criminal offense.
A solution which is “not so far” from the current EMMIS squad (the Mobile Mediation and Social Intervention Team), the only one which does not include a police officer, indicates Mr. Lamarche. But while EMMIS can be called upon to intervene in complaints from traders or in cases of fear from citizens, the recommended civilian squad would be “entirely neutral”, that is to say without bias for them or for the groups marginalized, describes the community organizer.