Crime in the Metro Down Since Police Began Patrols

Crime is down in the Metro by more than eight per cent, since a newly created police unit started patrolling the underground a year and a half ago, according to Montreal Police.
It has been just over 18 months since specially trained police officers began patrolling the Metro, along with Société de transport de Montréal guards, to create a more visible presence in the underground.
The unit, which is made up of 133 officers, was given $8 million for underground security and logged over 118,000 hours over the year.
Montreal police inspector René Allard says the police role in the metro system is not just to prevent crime.
“The officers are in the metro not just to prevent crime, but also to maintain the fluidity of the station,” he said. “If someone faints on the platform or tries to open closing train doors it affects the natural flow of the station.”
Police statistics show that connecting stations like Berri-UQAM and Lionel Groulx have the most criminal activity, due to the number of people that pass through every day.
But Allard doesn’t believe police officers will be permanently situated at these stations. “Of course there will be more officers during peak times, but there are no plans to keep them based there.”
Tessa Uiterkamp, a Concordia sociology student, has noticed the police presence and believes it is making a difference.
“There are quite a few homeless people around at night, especially at Lionel Groulx and when I’m alone, late at night it just feels safer to have police officers around,” she said.
“I think the [police] are making a difference, because I’ve seen them arresting people a few times, so it means there are some people in the metro, doing the wrong thing, so it’s good the police are taking action.”
Allard said the real success of the force will be more measurable in another year.
“Because this is the first year the police force has existed it is hard to compare it against any statistics,” he said. “But I believe with time crime in the metro will continue to decrease.”