Montreal police (SPVM) and the City of Montreal announced a new service to improve security downtown Montreal on Thursday.
The SPVM said that officers from the Papineau Avenue (22) and Berri Street (21) neighbourhood stations will combine to form two groups at the station on Berri Street next door to the Montreal bus station.
One group of officers will respond to emergency calls 24 hours a day, and another “will include officers assigned to problem-solving patrols, foot patrol officers, community officers, investigators and a community development advisor.”
“Our various partners will be involved in this new approach in order to identify innovative and appropriate solutions,” said SPVM chief Fady Dagher. “I’m confident that this new service offering will help to make a difference in the city centre sector.”
The goal, Dagher said, is to help the homeless and other vulnerable people in the area, while investigating and arresting those dealing drugs or engaging in other illicit activity.
The police chief said the force is also adding 30 to 35 officers now and 45 more in the fall.
A service counter will be maintained at the Papineau station between René-Lévesque Boulevard and Ste. Catherine Street.
The plan is to have the new set-up in place by the end of the year.
The city and police said that the hope is to “optimize collaboration, consultation and problem-solving strategies in order to have a concrete and coherent impact on the downtown ecosystem.”
“With the SPVM’s new service offering, we will be able to increase police presence on the ground and improve the sense of security in the Village, while preserving the service counter on the premises of PDQ 22,” said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante.
“This strong and unprecedented measure is in addition to increased investment in cleanliness in Ville-Marie, the improvement of public spaces and social mediation initiatives such as EMMIS, which contribute directly to the sense of security and vitality of the Village.”
EMMIS is the city’s mobile team of social workers that carries out interventions in the city.
The Village area has been highlighted as a high-crime area, and the city has invested millions of dollars in recent years to improve security.
Dagher said that a vast majority of emergency calls are related to social issues, and working with partners to attack the problem from two avenues is essential.
“There less-and-less criminal,” he said. “So we have the partners to bring the people, to bring the right help to those people and in the meantime we’re targeting the people who are selling the narcotics.”
