Latest news with #VilleMarie
CTV News
4 days ago
- CTV News
Montreal increasing police, intervention worker presence downtown this summer
An officer from the SPVM gets out of his patrol car in Montreal on October 8, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi) The City of Montreal announced it will increase the presence of patrol officers, EMMIS intervention workers and its 'cohabitation team' in the downtown area this summer. In a news release, the city said it wants the population to feel safer and is deploying 'more resources than last year,' including private security, to 'address the needs and concerns of all parties involved.' This includes 'the local population, tourists, business owners and employees in the city centre.' About 30 more Montreal police (SPVM) officers are slated to patrol the Ville-Marie, Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve and Sud-Ouest boroughs, including members of the ECLIPSE violent crime division. The city stated that it has also invested $1 million in new 'social cohabitation teams' for busy areas of the Ville-Marie borough, which will comprise 13 social workers working 450 hours per week. They will 'add a more in-depth level of intervention to the work being done by EMMIS workers,' the city said. Officials said the workers come from organizations like l'Anonyme, l'Itinéraire and the Société de developpement social de Ville-Marie. The city increases its police presence downtown every year, Mayor Valérie Plante explained. 'We know that the summer months are a challenge,' she said. 'This summer, we are more committed than ever to mobilizing all our skills and resources to go even further … Every effort is being made to ensure that everyone can fully enjoy the summer in a vibrant, clean and safe city centre.' However, some community organizations question why they weren't included in the city's strategy. 'Contest of rights' David Chapman, executive director of Resilience Montreal, said he understands that increasing police may help some feel safer and reduce unnecessary 911 calls. However, he added the $1 million spent on brigades trained by the SPVM would be better put to organizations that have a rapport with the unhoused in the area. He also said there is a big difference between the public's perceived sense of safety and actual risk. 'For example, we may read in the media about a stabbing at the Atwater Metro, and often these reports don't include very important details, like the stabbing was between two drug sellers who are competing for, sort of, the crack trade in the area … The general public just reads 'Stabbing at Atwater Metro,' and they conclude, 'Well, I better not go anywhere near Atwater Metro because clearly it's unsafe for me to be there,'' Chapman said. 'But for everyone else … you are not at risk.' He emphasized that the workers at Resilience are trained in de-escalating conflict and are familiar with the people in the area. He added that vulnerable people are increasingly criminalized. Chapman said he once saw someone call the police out of concern for a man sleeping on the sidewalk near Resilience Montreal, who ended up in the backseat of a cruiser. 'Housed citizens will say, 'I have a right to health and life, a certain quality of life, and this right is at risk.' And the homeless will say … 'I too, have a right to this sidewalk, and I have a right to be here.' So then, what often happens is it just sort of degenerates into a contest of rights, which is not productive,' he said. 'The best way for this security and for a sense of public safety is actually if community organizations themselves are funded to hire people who can de-escalate.' 'Not only new police officers' Robert Beaudry, responsible for homelessness with Montreal's executive committee, said the homeless population has increased everywhere in Quebec, and the city wants to have a balanced response. He stressed that the increased patrol and private security officers should have 'eyes and ears for criminality, not homelessness.' 'It's not only having new police officers or private security, it's as well having more social workers,' he told CTV News. 'We, as well, offer opportunity of reinsertion for people who are in vulnerable situations.' He said the new brigade is made up of people who are already involved in the borough and know the needs of those in the streets. The Ville-Marie borough is spending some $30 million on cleanliness year-round, a $4 million increase from last year, according to the city. With files from CTV News' Maria Sarrouh.
CBC
6 days ago
- CBC
Montreal police arrest 13 suspected of extorting restaurant owners for money
Montreal police say they've arrested 13 people suspected of using violence and intimidation to extort money from restaurateurs. The three main suspects arrested Wednesday, men aged 25, 34, and 39, are believed to be connected to a series of extortion crimes targeting the owners of two restaurants in the Ville-Marie borough and their associates, according to a news release by the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM). In addition to the three main suspects, the other individuals arrested are eight men and two women, aged 28 to 44. Some of the 13 suspects arrested will appear in court within the next 24 hours. The others will be released on a promise to appear, with strict conditions to follow. The two restaurants targeted belong to the same owners. These alleged crimes include one in February where a restaurant's glass facade was shot on Ste-Catherine Street West, near De Bleury Street. Another restaurant owned by the victims was also targeted, as was the residence of one of the co-owners, the SPVM says. Along with the arrests, 15 search warrants were executed in Montreal, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Châteauguay and Laval. A total of 150 officers participated. The SPVM investigation found two independent cells that allegedly attempted to extort the same restaurateurs, police say. Members of these cells are also involved in other criminal activities, such as drug trafficking, the SPVM says. The searches conducted Wednesday resulted in the seizure of three firearms, half a kilogram of cocaine, half a kilogram of crystal methamphetamine, thousands of speed pills and nearly $120,000 in cash. "Today's operation demonstrates that when acts of intimidation against business owners are brought to our attention, the SPVM is able to deliver effective blows against the responsible criminals," said SPVM Cmdr. Pierre-Marc Houle in the news release. "We have other ongoing investigations concerning similar incidents, and we are confident they will lead to additional arrests." Dominique Tremblay, a spokeswoman for the Quebec restaurateurs association, said her organization has been collaborating with the SPVM and sending information to members about the situation — asking them to come forward if they hear anything or face extortion themselves. "If they see something, hear something around them, it's important to communicate with police, give them the information so they can act," she said. She said it is stressful for bar and restaurant owners who go through this, and sometimes they don't come forward about the extortion out of fear. Luc Rabouin, mayor of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough and chair of the city's executive committee, said his administration knew the investigation was underway, but wasn't given exact details. "There's no place for these crimes here in Montreal," said Rabouin, who was chosen to replace Mayor Valérie Plante as leader of Projet Montréal. "And we will not tolerate anything like that right now and in the future." Extortion not a new problem Back in October 2024, Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher urged merchants and parents to work with police to help curb the increasing involvement of young teenagers in organized crime and a surge in extortion of downtown businesses. This followed several suspected extortion attempts that are believed to be behind a spate of firebombings. A that time, Francis Renaud, head of the Montreal police organized crime unit, told reporters that about 40 attempted extortion cases have come across his desk since the summer, primarily in the downtown area. He said all kinds of business are being targeted, including clean ones and those tied to organized crime. Two years ago, in April 2023, a restaurant in Laval, Que., closed as a result of repeated firebombings and an extortion attempt. The vandalism, which started happening after the restaurant refused to pay when a stranger offered it "protection," led to its insurance being revoked, Kevin Al-Sabek, the son of one the owners, said in an interview at the time. Al-Sabek said the restaurant did manage to secure another insurer, but that happened past the landlord's deadline, voiding their lease agreement and forcing them to close. He decided not to change locations over fears the extortion would follow him to the new location. Al-Sabek's closure came just a month after Montreal police arrested 19 people in connection to dozens of cases of violence and intimidation targeting local businesses.
