Montreal police have launched a campaign in an effort to change the force’s image.
On Thursday, police launched a program to recruit more young people from ethnically and racially diverse backgrounds, including Indigenous youth.
“It is important for the Montreal police to make sure that we will reflect the population of Montreal,” explained Inspector Miguël Alston, who’s in charge of the programme.
“We have to be sensitive to the cultures so that we can better serve the community.”
According to Alston, 34 per cent of the force are women, but just 13 per cent are non-white. The programme will target individuals from age 15 to 25, and will include outreach in culturally diverse neighbourhoods like Côte-des-Neiges–NDG, Montreal North and Saint-Michel.
Community workers, however, say with complaints of systemic racism by the Montreal police, officials will have their work cut out for them.
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“The trust has broken for a long time,” said Eve Torres, coordinator for the community group Parc-Extension Round Table.
“They need to see things differently. It’s very important.”
She pointed out that in ethnically-diverse areas, police officers should spend more time talking to people and less time in their cars.
“If you drive around with your car, you can see police cars on all of the corners,” she claimed. “This is very repressive.”
She also noted the problem of racial profiling, something authorities within the force have acknowledged.
Some police officers have even complained of systemic racism within the ranks. In June 2020, nine Black officers urged the police union to acknowledge that the problem exists.
Torres insisted that the force start addressing these issues in order to build trust.
“This is not only theory,” she told Global News. “This is the practice. This is urgent now.”
Alston agrees and said he heard the same message from consultations with their officers. He promised that measures, such as training senior officers and others to manage diversity, will happen to ensure people of diverse background feel welcome.
“We are working on an EDI strategy — equity, diversity and inclusion — to make sure that once they are hired they will feel part of the organization,” he explained.
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