We had to do something. Youth violence was skyrocketing, violent events made headlines day after day, and nine youths had been charged with murder in the previous year. In response to this situation, Montreal held a three-day public forum, during which representatives from different sectors were invited to work together to stop the cycle of violence.
Posted at 12:30 p.m.
The forum I’m talking about is not the one that took place recently around armed violence and that the Institut du Nouveau Monde documented in three reports published last week, but a surprisingly similar forum that took place in the spring of 1994.
This first forum, although it was organized by the City, clearly had the objective of convincing citizens of the need to expand the role of the police. The idea of community policing was relatively new at the time, and the presentation of the police at the forum hinted at a world in which youth policing would occupy a prominent place in the lives of young people, playing a role similar to that of a community organization.
While some forum participants welcomed this vision, many opposed it. “One is almost to believe that some [policiers] will be street workers, other social workers,” ironically commented the spokesperson for one organization.
Indeed, the police had already greatly expanded their role with youth over the previous five years. Montreal police annual reports from 1989 and 1990, for example, revealed that the youth police used their presence in high schools in the northeast of the city to “find out the names of leaders who used violence in the workplace. school” and “monitoring drug trafficking networks and other criminal activities”.
Finally, many organizations rejected the idea that increased police presence was the solution rather than community and school actions. This was the opinion, among others, of the Regroupement of autonomous youth community organizations, which asked: “How [la police] Does it intend to go about solving the problems of violence among young people without tackling the institutional and economic problems of which they are the first victims? »
Like many participants in the forum, the Regroupement demanded that we invest more in the lives of young people and in support programs that keep them away from violence. However, these investments were never made.
Those who remember the 1994 forum may have had a sense of deja vu lately. This year’s forum on gun violence, organized by the SPVM and not by the City, dealt with the same issues, and essentially the same solutions were proposed.
Once again, the reinforcement of the police presence was presented as a panacea, this time by putting forward a better sharing of information between the community sector, public institutions and the police. We also called for better coordination between the various players and the adoption of best practices to counter violence.
As in the past, these proposals were greeted enthusiastically by some, but reluctantly by many others. Several organizations rightly pointed out that their work with young people depended on their independence from the police. “If the community worker discusses with the police, explains a spokesperson, the bond of trust is blown. »
In terms of the importance of collaboration, many participants explained that they had been collaborating for a long time and that it was only the lack of sustained funding that hindered them.
Unfortunately, there are no signs of an increase in funding in the community sector. Montreal used $200,000 from the tiny envelope allocated to its “community violence prevention” program to organize the forum. Closing the event, Mayor Valérie Plante announced new investments of $7 million for community projects proposed by young people and various infrastructure projects, but no funding for organizations that specialize in the prevention of violence.
At the same time, funding for the SPVM continues to be increased. Its budget has notably increased by $45 million in 2022, and Quebec has just transferred $4 million to it to increase its presence in schools.
A participant in the 1994 forum, Neil Armand, summarized the situation well: “The City continues to do the same thing, but hopes for different results. »
It’s time for our elected officials to justify their penchant for failed policies and their preference for investments to monitor and punish marginalized young people rather than provide them with the resources they need to walk away from violence. and flourish.