Based on studies showing that when a spouse attempts to strangle his partner, the risk that he subsequently kills her increases “significantly”, the Montreal police and the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP) launch a pilot project on domestic violence. The initiative — a first in Quebec — aims to train police officers and Crown prosecutors, and includes a component to help victims who do not always recognize the physical symptoms that are the consequence of such an attack.
The pilot project will first be deployed in the East of the Island of Montreal over a period of 18 months.
Training will be offered to police officers from neighborhood stations and those from criminal investigation units, as well as to DPCP prosecutors. The “victim’s statement”, written when she makes a complaint to the police, will be modified with the addition of a part specifically targeting this serious act of strangulation.
Information relating to the various symptoms, which can occur during the hours and days following strangulation, will also be given to victims in order to make them aware of the consequences and dangers for their health.
“Strangulation is proof of complete domination on the part of the person who attacks, who demonstrates to the victim that he literally holds his life in his hands,” points out Commander Anouk St-Onge, head of the Specialized Section in domestic violence from the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM).
“The pilot project constitutes a multidisciplinary solution which will seek to improve the interventions of our teams when we receive such reports. »
On the side of Crown prosecutors, this pilot project should lead to “better collection of all the evidence necessary to be able to bring charges against the perpetrators of violence,” believes Ms. Maya Ducasse-Hathi. It should also make it possible to better support victims within the legal process, adds the prosecutor specializing in domestic violence.
At the end of the implementation period, an evaluation of the pilot project will be carried out to determine whether the project can be maintained, then possibly extended to the entire island of Montreal.