The Montreal police chief says he has “never felt so much stress” as currently within the city’s Jewish and Muslim communities, in the wake of tensions in the Middle East.
Fady Dagher stressed that protecting places associated with these communities “costs a fortune” to his service, but that he does not intend to let his guard down.
“We want to bring calm to the community,” said Mr. Dagher, in a presentation at Montreal city hall, less than twelve hours after a Molotov cocktail attack against a Jewish association. “In both communities, these are people I have known for more than 20-25 years and I have never felt so much excitement and so much stress in these communities. And with good reason. »
The big boss of the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) indicated that he had already invested 1.7 million in overtime to ensure the protection of sensitive locations since the Hamas attack on October 7.
“Our workforce is extremely tired,” he said. “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Maybe it will get even worse, we don’t know. » He added, however, that the humanitarian truce in progress for several days had had an impact on the ground.
Mr. Dagher affirmed that he had recently intervened in the community media in an attempt to reassure his fellow citizens.
“I saw that they were starting to change their behavior,” reducing their attendance at places of worship or hiding certain religious symbols, he reported. “It concerned us greatly. So we sent them a message in their local media: do not change your habits, despite the fear, despite the anxiety, above all, do not change your habits. »