Montreal police chief’s first 100 days, Fady Dagher presents his vision for policing in the city
Posted May 15, 2023 9:16 am.
Last Updated May 15, 2023 6:20 pm.
The new Montreal police (SPVM) chief Fady Dagher presented his vision for the SPVM on Monday morning – after his first 100 days in the role. He focused on the three priorities he established when taking office in November 2022: recruitment and retention, getting closer to the population and fighting gun violence.
“My vision of policing will be much more open and modern, aiming to address a population that is more multicultural today. Police must understand and be able to serve these populations, all populations,” he had said at the time he was appointed.
Dagher has a formidable task ahead of him as he seeks to re-establish trust in a police department that has made headlines with racial profiling cases and a lack of accountability. He said he has been meeting with diverse community groups as well as SPVM troops on the ground in the last 100 days.
“I have tried to set examples, by multiplying the number of meetings with the community organization,” he said. “115 since the beginning of the year, and I don’t intend to slow down.”
Dagher says racism and discrimination have been major points in their meetings with community groups. He underscored that racial profiling does exist within the force and that racist behaviours aren’t tolerated.
He announced he will require the entire police force to provide monthly reports on this front.
“I want to know from each unit, what is going going on, if there is any, between the citizen and the police and inside the organization,” Dagher said.
Getting closer to the population
To help build bridges with all communities the SPVM is launching a new program in September to help officers better understand the realities in the streets of Montreal regarding social, racial, and mental health issues, as well as learning to work with social workers.
“In 2023, we have no choice but to work in an integrated manner with our partners from all walks of life. To that end, I am very pleased to announce, a brand new program for recruits: a four-week immersive experience in the community,” explained Dagher on Monday.
I don’t think that the problem of policing is a lack of contact,” says Tari Ajadi, an assistant professor in political science at McGill University. “I think the problem of policing is much deeper in a structural and endemic to the nature of policing itself.”
“These recruits might very well have the best of intentions, but when they’re in moments of crisis, I think that actually they’re going to end up responding in the same way that forces have responded to before,” he added.
Dagher, who speaks English, French and Arabic, was born and raised in Ivory Coast to parents of Lebanese descent. Previously he was the chief of the Longueuil police force.
RELATED
Fady Dagher named Montreal police chief
Recruitment and retention
“We took the necessary steps to stop the bleeding. To do so, we have put in place historic measures to promote attractiveness, recruitment and retention,” added Dagher Monday.
The “historic” ways the SPVM will recruit include increasing salaries by nearly 30 per cent, expanding the recruitment pool to include profiles in the field of social studies, and encouraging retirees to come back.
Fighting gun violence
Dagher said Monday efforts to curb gun violence – which has been increasing since the pandemic – have been constant since the beginning of the year. They include an increasing number of raids, and gun seizures, as well as making additional arrests and dismantling networks. He said the SPVM’s strategy to combat gun violence is based on the targeted deterrence model and the leveraging strategy.
Dagher said alternatives must be offered to individuals involved in gun violence and interventions must be carried out before episodes of violence occur.
Defunding police
In a statement Monday morning, the Defund the Police Coalition, a network of 80 groups committed to changing the current approach to public safety, said Montreal needs an approach to public safety that deemphasizes the role of police, partially defunds the police, and reinvests public money in a range of community services and projects.
“While Dagher’s vision of policing is often described as new and even “avant garde,” the Coalition suggests it is no different than the status quo,” reads their statement.
“We need to be reorienting funding towards the community groups that do the best work of crime prevention,” said Ajadi.
“The chief mentioned over and over and over again that we have to treat issues of violence, insecurity, mental health, challenges of houselessness in the community at the root causes, right? So, why would police officers who are inherently reactionary be the best people equipped to do that?” asked Ajadi.
When asked about defunding police and moving that money to community groups, Dagher stressed the importance of police and community groups working together.
“I don’t think it’s one or the other. I think it’s one and the other. So for them and the police. But not for the police to work the same way that we used to work for 30 years. We need to work on the repression and being dismissive, but we need also to work in prevention. And, for that we can marry both side, the community and the police. We have to because the solution is collective, not only individual,” he said Monday morning when presenting his vision of policing.
