The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) has proposed to the Plante administration to close four neighborhood police stations in 2020, the official opposition at City Hall understands.
Posted at 2:24 p.m.
Updated at 2:49 p.m.
The elected officials of Ensemble Montréal affirmed Monday, in city council, to have obtained information according to which the chief of police Sylvain Caron had proposed a plan of mergers to the executive committee of the City of Montreal on March 11, 2020.
According to the opposition’s allegations, the SPVM would have proposed the merger of the following positions:
- Pierrefonds (3) and Dollard-des-Ormeaux (4)
- Cartierville (10) and Ahuntsic (27)
- Saint-Leonard (42) and Anjou (46)
- Rivière-des-Prairies (45) and Pointe-aux-Trembles (49)
On Monday, three elected officials from Ensemble Montréal strongly criticized the Plante administration for its lack of transparency in this matter. “How can the citizens of this city trust the current administration,” said Abdelhaq Sari, spokesperson for Ensemble Montréal in terms of public security.
Its leader, Aref Salem, directly questioned Mayor Plante about the possibility that the SPVM had proposed job mergers. The mayor has not confirmed or denied this information.
In a statement, his cabinet confirmed that “the SPVM presented to the executive committee a project including hypotheses for integrating neighborhood stations, which was never endorsed by the City of Montreal”.
The M teamme Plante pointed out that a moratorium on the closure of neighborhood stations had been voted by the city council at the end of 2020. “Our position is clear, the moratorium is still in force, and no closure of neighborhood stations is envisaged”, continue the statement. “If the SPVM submits a complete plan, it will be duly analyzed and submitted to the population. »
“There will be no integrations without consultations,” Alain Vaillancourt, Valérie Plante’s public security manager, told the city council. “We want to have local police that are always more effective in ensuring the safety of Montrealers. »
At the beginning of January, police chief Caron created a surprise by publicly evoking his desire to put a cross on the neighborhood police model that has prevailed in Montreal for 25 years.