Arrests made at Montreal anti-police protest

MONTREAL – About 10 people were arrested Tuesday at Montreal’s notoriously raucous annual anti-police protest – and that was before the protest even started.

Police say they stopped a number of people for municipal infractions, namely for carrying sticks and air guns on the way to the protest.

Montreal’s annual anti-police march typically spirals into vandalism and clashes with law enforcement and results in scores of arrests.

This year the event is also being held in Toronto.

The Toronto demonstration was partly inspired by incidents at the G20 summit, where there were mass arrests and allegations of police abuse.

Police forces in both cities have been co-operating in preparation for the event.

During last year’s confrontation in Montreal, which resulted in 83 arrests, a Toronto police official was in the Montreal operations centre observing how it was handled.

A year earlier, at the 2009 Montreal protest, 221 arrests were made, mainly for municipal bylaw infractions.

Toronto police have also been sent information by the Montreal force to help them single out potential trouble-makers.

Montreal police say their force oversees 1,500 events a year and, each year, up to 98 per cent end without any incidents.

Last year, close to $500,000 was spent on police operations during the anti-police brutality protest in Montreal – $310,00 in overtime alone.