As October 7 approaches, which marks one year since the Hamas incursion into Israel and the Jewish state’s massive military response, the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) wants to be reassuring. It says it has increased the number and visibility of its police officers in specific neighborhoods and will closely monitor the many protests planned in the coming days.
“If actions of a violent or criminal nature must be taken, rest assured that we will not hesitate to intervene and make arrests,” declared chief inspector Mohammed Aziz Bouhdid at a press conference Friday morning in the neighborhood. general of the SPVM.
However, he recalls that until now, the vast majority of demonstrations linked to the conflict in the Middle East – there have been 345 – have been peaceful.
“And we invite people to continue along this path. »
The deputy director of the SPVM, Vincent Richer, indicated that the police are in contact with different police forces and intelligence services to guide their actions.
He says he also maintains close contact with the Jewish and Muslim communities of Montreal to understand their security needs. Police have added additional personnel 24/7 at key locations, including places of worship.
Certain Montreal neighborhoods will be subject to more frequent patrols. Police presence will also be increased around certain universities, which have been the scene of demonstrations and occupations in recent months.
The necessary personnel will be on the ground, he assures. He therefore invites people not to change their habits.
Already five arrests
The visibility plan for its police officers, which will be in effect throughout the month of October, has already produced concrete results, indicates Vincent Richer.
He was referring to the five people arrested Wednesday — two adults and three minors — with “incendiary material” in the Côte-St-Luc and Côte-des-Neiges neighborhoods. The investigation is not finished, said Deputy Director Richer, but the SPVM’s hypothesis is that they were preparing to use it against synagogues.
The Montreal police force expects a major demonstration on Saturday and another major one on Monday. The SPVM will be there for “visibility and crowd control” and is preparing for all possibilities, such as counter-demonstrations which make the work of the police “more complex”.
We know that the level of tension is increasing in the Middle East, so it is increasing here too, underlined Vincent Richer.
In the past year, more than 100 people have been arrested during protests linked to the conflict in the Middle East, for assault or mischief. And we will do more if necessary, warned Chief Inspector Bouhdid. He adds that since October 7, 2023, 41 people have been arrested, but the number of reported hate events has decreased “significantly” in recent months.
Hate crimes
Since October 7, numerous incidents and hate crimes have been reported to the police: a total of 288 in one year, according to SPVM figures obtained by The Duty.
Data shows that the Jewish community has been targeted more often than the Arab-Muslim community. It was targeted by 213 incidents and crimes reported compared to 75 for Arab-Muslim Montrealers.
The SPVM differentiates between hate crimes and hate incidents in its statistics. The Hate Crimes and Incidents Module (HIM) still processes hate incidents, but compiles them in a separate category because they “do not lead to arrests or charges, because they are not criminal offences”.
According to SPVM figures, the Jewish community was targeted in one year in 76 crimes against the person, 46 crimes against property (such as these Molotov cocktails thrown at schools and a Jewish community center) and 91 anti-Semitic incidents were reported. . As for Arab-Muslim Montrealers, they were targeted by 35 crimes against the person, 12 crimes against property and 28 hate incidents were reported.