‘Sad moment for the SPVM’: Interview with Montreal police chief after historic firings of 7 officers over misconduct

Montreal police (SPVM) Chief Fady Dagher called Monday’s firings of seven officers an “exceptional measure” and a first in the force’s history.

The officers were fired in connection with the allegations of racism, discrimination and misconduct that have rocked the force for several months now.

A day after the historic firings, CityNews spoke to Dagher about what led to his decision and what is next for the police force as it tries to rebuild trust with the public.

CityNews: On Monday, you said that this is an unprecedented move at the SPVM. Why was it important to make this move right now?

Dagher: “We had accumulated so much evidence on those files. We had to accumulate all of them together and we had a few ways of doing it. Still, right now, the allegations are being analyzed by the DPCP (Crown prosecutor) to see if we’re going to go on the criminal charges. There’s also the deontology (investigation). There’s also the disciplinary (process). But yesterday, what I announced is the trust between us and those police officers.

“Knowing that the accreditation didn’t go, (I had to) right away fire those police officers. And it was important because we have a mistrust in the community right now. There’s a lot of vision and people are not trusting the police department.

“Plus, the 99 per cent of those police officers who are doing a great job, some of them, they are the people who spoke about those behaviours inside. And they have to see what kind of gesture, what kind of consequences, can we trust the direction that they’re going to do something about it? So it was for those reasons, for the trust in the community and the public interest. The public interest is much higher than anything because when the community don’t trust you, you lose your legitimacy. And it was very important to do the announcement yesterday.”

CityNews: You mentioned that there could be criminal investigations ongoing. So why not wait for those conclusions?

Dagher: “As a chief, I have to balance, to analyze to see what’s the best road to take. And still, the road of the criminal issues and the road with the deontology and the discipline is present. But since I have that power — it’s in the Article 115 of the law of the police — since I don’t have the trust, I don’t see how I can trust those people to wear the uniform and have a gun and serve and protect the citizens of Montreal, I’m allowed to take that decision now. So I had to make sure to advance slowly, very firm, intelligent way, to make sure that those files, if they don’t go through what I just decided yesterday, there is still other steps. The criminal charges, the deontology and the discipline also can be used later.”

CityNews: Are you confident that these dismissals will stand should these officers decide to contest them?

Dagher: “I don’t know if they’re going to contest, but let’s see what the court will decide. I cannot speak for the court, but we have very good evidence. I’m not taking this kind of decision very lightly. And to be honest with you, it is a sad moment for the SPVM, but it needs to be done to rebuild the trust between the community and to rebuild the trust with those police officers, the whistleblower who decided to signal what’s happening on the field and have a high respect for those police officers, those values. This is exactly what we expect. And I have 99 per cent of my cops doing a great, great job. I can’t let less than one per cent dirty our uniform this way.”

CityNews: Five of those who were dismissed were from station 39 where we saw a 16 team officer disbanded this summer. For people who feel maybe you’re just removing the people who caused the problem, how are you actually addressing the root of the culture within that station?

Dagher: “We are talking about five police officers under 128 or 126 police officers in Station 39, so it’s a really low number concerning the rest of those police officers. In Station 39, I met them actually yesterday very early in the morning. Them too, they go through some pressure. They have doing a great job and they are like ‘Mr. Dagher, every week or every month we have another news in the media when is this going to stop?’

“So those police officers are trying to do the best they can. Even when they go on a 911 call, they’ve been challenged by some of the citizens, about what the citizens are seeing on the news. So it was important for them to have a response (from me). ‘Listen, we took actions. Now, you guys, the rest of the police station, 120 approximately, continue your good job. We need you to stay focused and we need you to be able to prevent and to be repressive on the crime.'”

CityNews: With regards to allegations of an officer who also deleted video evidence in a domestic violence case, we’ve seen reports that two supervisors who were made aware of this have been reassigned. Are you able to confirm that?

Dagher: “What we did with those two supervisors, we even sent the allegation to the DPCP and the DPCP came back to us telling us there’s no criminal charges about them. They become what they witness now. So we are working on it. I cannot go to details about those two supervisors, but I can tell you one thing: we did send the file to the criminal charges and it came back (unfounded).”

CityNews: You’ve also mentioned that a lot of these officers are young and at the beginning of their careers. So is it time to re-look how you train and recruit?

Dagher: “Actually, we did revise all of our training, the recruitment, the criteria, the promotion, the evaluation. We did revise them at the end of 2024, 2025. But still, we’re not perfect. I asked the team to sit down again and see (if) is there a leak somewhere, are we doing any mistake, how can we do better, how can we be better.

“I think we need to be able to address those issues, to be able to show the community that we are trying the best we can, any transparency and with humility that we’re trying to do the best to be better and better. So yes, very soon, at the end of November, December, we’re going to show a new action plan co-built with the community to see how we’re going to go ahead. But we are putting everything on the table to see where did we miss? Is there a (blind spot) that we didn’t see? How we can be better next time?”

CityNews: Last thing I want to ask you is, for people who might be concerned that there are seven officers who have been dismissed, they may try to re-enter a different force somewhere else. Should they be worried?

Dagher: “Actually, they have an obligation. Those seven police officers, let’s say they decide to be work somewhere else in Quebec, by law they have the obligation to tell the other agency what they went through in the SPVM: Is there any accusation? Were they be fired and why? And let’s see what the other organization would decide. I don’t control their decision, but the candidate, any of the seven, if they decide to apply somewhere else, they have by law to tell them to declare what’s happening in the SPVM. So we’ll see.”