Montreal police report decrease in homicides, gun violence last year compared to 2023

Montreal police (SPVM) are taking stock of the force’s achievements and criminal activity on the territory over the last year.

At a press conference on Thursday, the SPVM unveiled that 32 murders took place on the island of Montreal in 2024 and 26 of them have been solved, giving them an 81 per cent resolution rate.

SPVM reported a 19 per cent decrease in homicides, attempted murder, and firearm discharge events, compared to 2023.

They also said that gun violence in Montreal has seen a 47 per cent decrease since the peak of gun violence in 2021.

Regarding vehicle theft, the SPVM have say they have joined forces by implementing effective collaborative strategies and targeted operations to disrupt criminal networks. They say these efforts have led to a 25 per cent decrease between 2023 and 2024.

On the recruitment front, they reported that in 2024, they saw the largest increase in the last five years with a net surplus of 147 permanent police officers.

As of Dec. 31, 2024, 328 police officers have been hired by the SPVM.

SPVM added that one in four people that were hired come from a diverse background, and that women represent 42 per cent of those hired.

New programs introduced in 2024

SPVM say they implemented new programs in 2024 to offer services that are more accessible and adapted to the reality of all populations.

The following programs have been added:

•  Four major advisory committees made up of experts from different fields have been created to examine several issues: the fight against discrimination and racism, health and social services, urban cohabitation and the fight against gun violence.

• The cohousing team (Ecoh), which focuses on the challenges of social cohabitation in the downtown core and from a problem-solving perspective, has been established.

• The SPVM also experimented with a mobile counter that moved around metros, parks and other places of interest to facilitate access to police services. Nearly 4600 citizens went to meet these police officers for various reasons.

SPVM experiments with equipment modernization

In the last couple months police say they introduced a pilot project which includes new vehicular computers being deployed at four neighbourhood police stations.

Police say the objective of this pilot project is to optimize the organization of work and increase the performance of police officers in certain tasks.

SPVM promises the deployment of new vehicular computers at all neighbourhood police stations by the end of 2025.

What’s to come in 2025 

SPVM say the Multisectoral Firearms Teams (MFA) have been enhanced and made permanent, eight permanent prevention officers have been added as well.

In 2025, SPVM say they will be able to tackle even more unsolved murders, as they’ve added 10 investigators to their team.

Starting in May, SPVM aims to deploy a cohabitation team throughout the entire summer season in downtown Montreal to tackle the issue of homelessness.

SPVM also indicated that they plan on offering more digital services to provide the population with a more accessible and efficient experience. The digital shift includes simplifying online police reporting and creating remote online police service in the longer term.