Montreal better equipped against armed violence, according to Valérie Plante and Martin Prud’homme

The drop in armed violence confirmed by the SPVM last week represents the fruit of numerous measures put in place by the administration Plante, with the complicity of its deputy director general for urban security, Martin Prud'homme.

When waves of armed violence shook the feeling of security in the metropolis at the turn of 2021, after COVID-19, Montreal gave the feeling of being a more dangerous city than the statistics indicated. crime matters.

After COVID, crime has changed. What we said to ourselves, at the City of Montreal, is that we need to change. We need to change the way we work with the SPVM and analyze the problem of armed violence in its entirety, declared Tuesday the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante, alongside her manager in this area. of public security, deputy director general Martin Prud'homme.

Mayor Valérie Plante and her deputy director general, Martin Prud'homme, work together on the issue of urban security.

The City of Montreal's response was to quickly organize the Montreal Forum for the fight against armed violence, to bring together more than 200 socio-community partners who are involved in the same cause as the City and the SPVM. Until tomorrow, these partners come together for a second time.

The effect of this [first] forum, that&#x27 ;was to bring together these partners. Everyone was doing good things: the SPVM, the City of Montreal, the community, the school system… We took everyone to work together, added Ms. Plante.

After 48 hours of work, in February 2022, the Montreal model for a safe city was created. The latter targets a few areas to curb the phenomenon of armed violence: prevention and the sources of the problem, as well as the development of partnerships.

This is a clear and precise plan, according to the mayor, which has served for a year as a guide to the population in order to to allow him to understand the City's vision to combat armed violence.

The implementation of the Montreal model was marked by the arrival of Martin Prud'homme, who had extensive experience both as Deputy Minister of Public Security and as Director General of the Sûreté du Québec. Hired as deputy general director for urban security, his mandate was to deploy the model.

The metropolis brings different challenges from the regions. There are differences particularly in terms of homelessness and mental health. There is also organized crime which sets up around major cities; their business is done here. These are major issues, said Mr. Prud'homme, recalling that half of the eight million Quebecers live in Greater Montreal.

Martin Prud'homme received the mandate to implement the Montreal model for a safe city, which resulted from the first Montreal Forum for the fight against armed violence.

The mayor's confidant was therefore able to contribute to the choice of Fady Dagher as head of the SPVM when the x27;call for applications was launched in October 2022.

The profile of Mr. Dagher, who then headed the police in Longueuil, was clearly recognized in the public consultation report which was taken into account during the selection of the future Montreal police chief.

The numerous searches and arrests by the SPVM over the past year have slowed down criminal activities. Last week, the police department announced an overall drop of 30% in gun crimes in the metropolis compared to 2022, for the period from January 1 to September 30.

The work of police officers in Montreal and the work of SPVM partners [provides] concrete results. Montreal is a safe city, among the safest in North America: Mr. Dagher, with his initiatives such as the Immersion program, is avant-garde; the quality of the police officers we have pays off, underlined Mr. Prud'homme.

Comparison between 2023 and 2022< /p>

The number of firearms seized increased from 767 in 2022 to 1,009 in 2023.

Source : SPVM

The next step for Montreal will be to resolve recruitment issues at the SPVM. Within five years, more than 1,000 police officers will be eligible for retirement. The Montreal police therefore find themselves in competition with all police forces in Quebec, who experience the same demographic reality in their organization.

We are currently training [this year] 800 police officers in one of the best schools in the world. In 2024, the capacity will reach more than 1,000 recruits trained annually. It is undeniable that Montreal will be attractive to attract police officers to our country. We also want to have the right profile as police officers. We want people who have a taste for working in the context of a city, said Martin Prudhomme, who is hopeful of reaching 300 hires by December 31. This would be a first in five years for the SPVM.

At the end of the first Forum, the mayor announced investments of $2 million for a special youth fund, $5 million for participatory projects and $400,000 for the activation of the RENFORT telephone line, intended to help families with children who engage in criminal behavior.

We must highlight the contribution of community organizations. They are allies, privileged partners because they are on the [Montreal] territory. The more we strengthen this collaboration, the entire population benefits, concluded the mayor of Montreal.

Important personalities from Montreal landscape will participate in the second Montreal Forum for the fight against armed violence: the director of the SPVM, Fady Dagher; the regional director of public health for the Montreal region, Mylène Drouin; the deputy director general for urban security, Martin Prud'homme; and, of course, the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante.

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