Fady Dagher named Montreal police chief

Fady Dagher has been named the new police chief of the Montreal police (SPVM).

“My vision of policing in 2022 will be much more open and modern, aiming to address a population that is much more multicultural today. Police must understand and be able to serve these populations, all populations,” said Dagher in French at a meeting Thursday morning of the Commission de la sécurité publique, during which he presented his vision for the SPVM.

“Often, in policing, our work tends to be reactionary. We react to 911 calls or emergencies, but I want to work in conjunction with everyone to find proactive solutions to issues before they become crises. We can find solutions before they become big problems by working together and with a sense of openness and dialogue.”

Currently chief of police in Longueuil, Dagher will replace Sophie Roy, who became the acting chief after Sylvain Caron retired earlier in the year.

Dagher, who speaks English, French and Arabic, was born and raised in Ivory Coast to parents of Lebanese descent. He has a formidable task ahead of him as he seeks to re-establish trust in a police department that has repeatedly made headlines with racial profiling cases and a lack of accountability.

“I already admitted that I did some racial profiling. And I’ve been the victim of racial profiling. So when you tell me about the mistrust in the community and the police, I understand that. And we have no choice. We are condemned to work together, so we have to find a way to build those bridges. Most of the time we’re talking about systemic discrimination, but it doesn’t mean we can exclude it or that it’s acceptable. We have to find a way to work together. I don’t have all the tools, but I know one thing: as soon as you put two human beings together, suddenly the fear goes down and they are able to talk. But if you don’t put them together there’s always going to be us versus them. This is one of my causes, racial profiling.”

#WATCH: "We have to find a way to get closer and closer to the community outside of emergency calls," said Fady Dagher, who is set to become Montreal's new police chief. He'll be introduced formally by the mayor this afternoon.
 
READ: https://t.co/cmDDGy4kYk pic.twitter.com/vXrkF8lqMM

— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) November 24, 2022

“I don’t want my police officers to become social workers. That’s out of the question. But how can they intervene with the partners on the field and find solutions?”

“I want the community to also understand our work. You see them on TV or in something sensational, but we need to see how difficult and complex it is to work as a police officer in 2022. It’s not black and white. It’s really, really grey.  It’s difficult and complex. We ask our police officers to be a therapist, a saviour, a Rambo, to be everything at the same time. It’s extremely complex to be able to be that for one person.”

Montreal’s mayor Valérie Plante will held a press conference Thursday afternoon to formally announce Dagher’s appointment.

“Let me come to Montreal, let me sit down with my people and we’ll see what kind of change is needed. Maybe it’s adaptation, maybe it’s change, maybe it’s a revolution. I have no idea. But I need time. We’re going to need time. There won’t be a huge change in 1-2 years. It’s going to take time,” said Dagher.

“For our administration it’s always been clear that there has to be repression when we talk about guns, of course we have to fight criminalized crime, it’s crucial, and the SPVM is doing amazing work on that front, but we also need prevention. That’s what we’ve been doing but now we have the person who will help us to bring the Montreal model [of policing] to another level. And I’m very proud of that,” said Plante. “Having Mr. Prud’homme in public security and Mr. Dagher as police chief and our administration that has a strong vision of what security and inclusion looks like, I feel like we have the first trio. We’re going to move faster, going to move stronger and we’re going to make sure everyone feels safe on the territory of Montreal.”

“For the first 100 days the first thing I’m going to do is see my troops, my people. To see what’s happening inside the organization. And I’m going to meet all the diverse communities, and I’m going to meet the union,” added Dagher.

Community-based policing

Dagher has a Master’s degree in business administration from McGill University and has 25 years of policing experience with the SPVM before he became the chief of police in Longueuil in 2017. He served as assistant director of police from 2013 to 2017.

Public consultations with Montreal residents and various community organizations communicated that more transparency and accountability was desired from the Montreal Police Department.

Dagher has implemented a model of community policing that aims to bridge the gap between the community and police officers and gain community trust.

He developed the first policy on racial and social profiling in Canada and was recently also instrumental in increasing diversity within the Longueuil police force.

Officers also took part in an immersion program, where they went out into the community with no uniform or gun. Last year, he also set up a project, which aims to bring police officers closer to the reality experienced by certain more vulnerable communities, such as people struggling with addiction or those experiencing homelessness.

“You have in Montreal, in Longueuil, everywhere in Quebec, I promise you, we have great police officers. The only thing they’re asking is to learn more to become better. As a chief it’s my responsibility, I am accountable for that, to give them all the tools,” said Dagher on Thursday.

“We want to understand your reality and how we can work together. Because there’s no way that police are the solution. It’s a community solution. I truly believe that.”

Upon learning of his appointment, Longueuil mayor Catherine Fournier called Dagher’s community-based approach to policing “the vision for the future.”

Optimism in the air

Responding to the news, Fo Niemi, executive director of the Centre for Research on Race Relations (CRARR) said, “I think Mr. Dagher has all the qualities that we need at this time and for the future. I think he’s a chief who has the vision, who has the know how, and who also has that common touch.”

Having worked with him in the past, Niemi says that Dagher leads by example. He asserts that many in the Saint-Michel community, where he once worked as police chief, feel the same way.

“I have very fond memories of what he did. He can be tough on crime, the real hardcore criminals, and he can be very, very tender towards community groups with the social, economic and all kinds of needs. Because he listens and he acts on what he hears and he acts on what he promises to deliver.”

Another important element Neimi highlighted was that Dagher speaks English. “We haven’t had a police chief in the last several years who could communicate with the English-speaking community and who understands the English-speaking community the way I know Mr. Dagher does.”