Côte Saint-Luc Mayor Mitchell Brownstein is sounding the alarm over a possible merger between two Montreal police stations, PDQ 9 and PDQ 11.
Station 9 is located in Côte Saint-Luc and serves the communities of Côte Saint-Luc, Montreal West and Hampstead, while PDQ 11 is located in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
Brownstein learned about the proposed merger in a meeting with police two weeks ago.
“What we’ve been told is that we would not be losing a station, it would remain Station 9 but instead of 30 officers, there might be a 100 working out of that location,” he said.
The plan, according to Brownstein, is that police will rent a bigger space at the current location on the corner of Westminster Avenue and Côte Saint-Luc Road.
But Brownstein worries a merger could lead to a drop in services and is arguing in favour of the status quo.
“Right now, we’re happy with the coverage we’re receiving in our city,” he said. “It could be better but we don’t want it to be worse.
“Our concern would be that more police officers would be taken out of our city to go to the higher-crime areas in NDG.”
Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce Mayor Sue Montgomery refused to comment on the issue, citing a lack of available information.
But Brownstein said she should be concerned, pointing out that a local police detachment is important for developing strong community ties.
“Having a local neighbourhood police station is really a good thing,” he said.
“We have a great relationship with the commander, we work on many issues together and they understand our community.”
It’s not known when and if the police department will go ahead with the merger, but Brownstein felt it was important to come forward with his concerns.
In a statement to Global News, Montreal police said they were not able for the time being to confirm anything regarding a possible merger.
“Please be assured that we will keep you informed of any developments.”
— With files from Global’s Kwabena Oduro
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