There’s been an alarming spike in shooting deaths in Montreal and police are trying to step up prevention.
Officers spent much of Wednesday afternoon fanning out across Rivière-des-Prairies (RDP) speaking to residents about crime in the area.
“The mission,” explained police Commander Salvatore Serrao, “is to show citizens that we’re present, and by doing door to door we can collect any type of information that can help us.”
Violent crimes including firearm offences have been on the rise in the city. According to the Montreal Police 2021 report, homicides by firearms tripled between 2020 and 2021.
There have also been several shootings in Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles, most recently on June 8th and 10th.
Police say they need the public’s help.
“We need them to feel that they can trust us, and they can trust us,” stated Serrao. “We’ll take their information; it’s completely anonymous.”
Wednesday’s operation in RDP also involved community workers. The reason: to help build trust.
“Gone are the days where we used to say that public security is exclusively a police matter,” Serrao pointed out.
City officials said there have been investments in programmes in several boroughs that target youth.
“So across the city, every borough has a lot of initiatives, about 77 projects,” said Alain Vaillancourt, City of Montreal Executive Committee member responsible for public security.
“Right now there’s about 57 that are in place for the summer.”
They include urban mediation projects to diffuse conflicts and the hiring of youth workers in RDP and Saint-Leonard, he added.
The police say they have made arrests in recent months, but they say they’re now seeing people who aren’t afraid of consequences, and that’s new.
“We’re confronted with a change of culture,” Serrao stressed. “It’s simplistic. We don’t value necessarily the repercussions that come with the violence.”