Montrealers marched Saturday against police officers accused of humiliating unhoused and racialized people, after a sixth Montreal police officer suspension for alleged misconduct since June. CBC reported that the protest began around 3 p.m., in response to news that two officers at the downtown station were suspended in late August or early September.
The allegations come from inside the force. According to Canadian Press and CTV News, one Station 21 officer allegedly urinated on a homeless person in the street and is under investigation for similar incidents. A second allegedly mocked a suspect who had been put in a “humiliating position” during an arrest. Other officers at the station who saw it filed complaints. Neither has been found guilty of misconduct, and the Montreal police (SPVM) Professional Standards Division is investigating.
For Black Montrealers, the protest lands on top of a case that has not gone away. In June, Police Chief Fady Dagher said officers at Station 39 in Montreal North had allegedly “cut the hair of racialized individuals and kept it as ‘trophies.'” Police dismantled a 16-member night patrol unit, suspended two officers whose files are with the prosecutors who will decide on criminal charges, and reassigned 14 others to duties without public contact. The inquiry began in March, after members of the force brought information forward.
Black community groups responded by calling for an independent public inquiry, CTV reported. Montreal North’s borough mayor, Christine Black, urged victims and witnesses to come forward. Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said “the relationship and trust between our institutions and the community are…very fragile. And in some cases, that trust sometimes has also been broken.” She promised to speed up body camera deployment.
On the Station 21 case, Martinez Ferrada said the allegations “are very serious and run counter to the dignity we owe to everyone,” and praised the officers who reported them. City councillor Ericka Alneus called the conduct humiliation and demanded serious sanctions. The SPVM said it is “determined to get to the bottom of the matter and take the necessary action,” and that people experiencing homelessness “deserve to be treated with humanity, respect and dignity.”
Advocates who work with unhoused people say the Station 21 allegations are not a surprise. Sophie Sénécal, director of the legal clinic Clinique Droits Devant, said: “People come to us to report abuses every day, truly horrific things.” Intervention worker Kira Prentice said she had “never seen police officers interact with homeless people in a way that wasn’t filled with disrespect.” The Red Coalition has reported both Station 21 incidents to Quebec’s police ethics commissioner.
Police have not said how long the suspensions will last. The Crown’s decision on the Station 39 files is still pending.
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