Seven Montreal police officers lost their jobs last Monday over allegations of racist and discriminatory conduct. The mayor called it unprecedented, and Black Montrealers are asking whether it is where accountability ends or where it starts.
Chief Fady Dagher said five of the officers worked at Station 39 in Montreal North and two at Station 21 downtown. One Station 39 officer is accused of cutting the hair of racialized citizens and keeping it as trophies. A Station 21 officer is accused of urinating on an unhoused person while in uniform, and another of posing for mocking photos of people he had arrested. A fourth is accused of deleting evidence from a domestic violence complaint. Police began investigating in March, after internal complaints, and the Station 39 patrol unit was dismantled over the summer.
The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) has not said who the people whose hair was cut were. Reports describe them only as racialized. Black organizations, though, have led the public response.
“It’s a sad day but at the same time it was needed,” Dagher said. “It was necessary to keep the trust with the police and the community.” Cases have been sent to Crown prosecutors, and Dagher called the evidence strong. No criminal charges have been reported, and none of the officers has been convicted of anything.
On Saturday the Black Community Resource Centre held a forum on the firings. “Our community is glad to see an action taken by a public official in this province,” organizer Seeta Ramdass said. “We have not seen this before.”
Others went further. Daniele-Jocelyne Otou of the Black Healing Centre said the force offers transparency but skirts accountability. Human rights advocate Ricardo Lamour called the response “a push to control the narrative at all costs.” Opposition city councillor Ericka Alneus called the dismissals “only the baseline” and wants Dagher before city council. Community groups are demanding a public inquiry.
The other side is organized. The Fraternité des policiers et policières de Montréal says it will challenge the firings, calling the administrative process unprecedented and legally questionable. Reports also say anonymous officers have complained that Dagher lacked impartiality. A police union that can reverse a dismissal is the oldest obstacle to discipline, and Black communities know how it works.
The firings answer what seven officers did. They do not answer who supervised them, how long it went on, or why the complaints came from inside the force in March and not from the people on the street. A public inquiry could. Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada has praised the firings. She should now say whether she will order one.
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