Tag: police

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Montreal police protest needs to end

Graphic by Thom Bell

Why the camouflage clown pants are undermining the police’s credibility

Quebec Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux unveiled a 38-point action plan to reform Montreal’s police department on March 29, according to CBC News. Parts of this action plan includes changing the organization’s structure to encourage collaborative leadership, and requiring police officers to stop wearing camouflage pants and resume dressing in their proper uniform.

Montreal police officers have been protesting cuts to their pension plan for almost three years now. According to the Montreal Gazette, the protest began in July 2014 in opposition to a Quebec pension plan reform that would affect 65,000 public sector employees. Since police, firefighters and public transport employees are essential to the city, they were prohibited from taking a day off work to protest. Instead, they decided to embarrass the government by not wearing their proper uniform as a form of protest. Now, this has become more of an embarrassment to the police department as it has been going on for far too long.
As with any profession, the way we dress is not only representative of ourselves, but also of the company we work for. For the police, a uniform is essential to ensure citizens can identify a police officer when assistance is needed.

A uniform also sends a message of professionalism and credibility. How can the police force expect us to take them seriously if they are dressed this way?

According to CBC News, in July 2016, SPVM officer Nathalie Dagenais caught a man named Marc-Olivier Caron speeding and asked him to pull over. Caron slowed down instead of pulling over, because he didn’t recognize Dagenais as an officer—she was wearing camouflage pants and a bright yellow vest.

The officer gave him two tickets: one for speeding and another for dangerous driving, since Caron slowed down as opposed to fully stopping, and Dagenais had to “move at the last second,” according to CBC News. Caron contested the second charge, and the judge sided with him. The judge said Caron’s reaction was reasonable because Dagenais was not dressed like a police officer. The judge ended up revoking the $1,200 fine. This is a perfect example of how the police officers’ protest is affecting their work—they’re not even being recognized as police officers when patrolling roadways.
Right now, police authority is being undermined because people do not take them seriously in their camouflage, fluorescent-coloured pants. It’s about time Coiteux is implementing change within the police community in order for them to regain the respect of the city.

But truthfully, the camouflage pants are just one part of a larger issue: the credibility of Montreal’s police force is gradually deteriorating. Today, the police force is plagued with issues of racial profiling, questionable internal investigations and tapping journalists’ phones. Despite being trained to protect us, I don’t feel protected knowing there are other motives and ideas in the minds of the police force.

The Montreal police department represents the city and notions of protection and responsibility. When we are in trouble, we are told to call the police. When we need help, we are told to call the police. When we feel threatened, we are told to call the police. Yet, the Montreal police have become something of a laughingstock in the eyes of citizens. The government trusts the police to ensure the city is protected, and the safety of the citizens are supposed to be their number-one priority. The police are supposed to be symbols of the law, but it’s hard to keep faith in them when they are dressed in clown pants and conducting unprofessional and sometimes unlawful acts.

Graphic by Thom Bell

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Dealing with the police as a visible minority

Graphic by Charlotte Bracho.

How my experiences and perceptions of the police have changed over time

As a person of colour, I’ve grown up to learn that professionals might not always help me. In airports, my family and I are always scrutinized—it’s become comical when my mother’s hijab and my father’s brown skin are glared at.

I’ve sat quietly as police officers show lack of interest when my mother’s car gets hit—instead of looking into her eyes, they stare at her scarf. I’ve sat quietly when my father’s explanations are ignored and instead, police officers smirk at his accent and refuse to listen.  

I read the news and I feel angry at the way people of colour are mistreated in the United States, and even in Canada. The things I see and have dealt with reinforce my negative idea of them. Usually, I steer clear of police officers because I have the perception that they’re more likely to be rude to me, than helpful.

However, a recent video spread on social media has made me question my misconceptions about police officers. On September 21, Leon Shand, a man in a wheelchair, was being harassed by a Montreal police officer who identified himself as Officer L’Heureux. Shand was in the middle of crossing the street when the light turned red. L’Heureux confronted him for being in the intersection and then aggressively pushed his wheelchair and searched through his bag without a warrant. After seeing the video, I was disgusted by the way Shand was treated. I was outraged when the police officer said, “I’m going to give you a fucking ticket. You asked for it.”  

My reaction was to immediately revert to my bias about police officers. Shand, who is black, was at the wrong place at the wrong time. My first thought was, “It’s because he’s black and in a wheelchair.” After a few moments, I realized I made a hasty generalization.

How was I to know whether or not Officer L’Heureux acted like that because Shand was black? I found myself questioning the opinions I’ve held for so long. Why was I so quick to jump and label the officer as racist?

Many believe that Canada doesn’t have a race problem when it comes to policing—but that’s not necessarily true. Statistics Canada tracks fatal police shootings when an officer is criminally charged, however statistics regarding race are not recorded. According to The Guardian, between 2005 and 2015, the number of black convicts in Canadian prisons has jumped by 69 per cent. In another report released by CBC News, the province of Ontario will be reviewing the way police officers interact with indigenous peoples, after a series of deaths whilst in police custody.

Although these statistics and facts do exist, I can’t rely solely on them and my experiences when I label police officers as rude or racist. I’ve realized that perhaps there is more to Officer L’Heureux—maybe he was having a bad day, or maybe he’s drunk on the authority that’s been handed to him. The main thing is—I don’t know everything.

I can’t possibly justify my own misconceptions and biases without confronting the possibility that maybe I’m wrong. While experiences do factor into our perceptions of people, we shouldn’t typecast police officers, especially when so many people are trying to hold them accountable for doing the same to civilians.

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Bikers Beware! Your wallets are in danger!

Photo of the police officer who issued the writer a ticket. Photo by Alex Hutchins

Cops litter the Maisonneuve bike path with their cash-grabbing tactics

One of my favourite weather-permitting pastimes is biking. Even in Toronto, where I’m from, I cycled everywhere—to school, to meet friends, to work. As a student, I’ve been using my bike for years to cut back on transportation costs. In all those years, I never once got a ticket while on my bike. I’d never really even considered it. But a few weeks ago, I got a ticket for not making a complete halt at a stop sign—and I am beyond pissed off.

I was biking along a typically quiet, low-traffic section of the De Maisonneuve bike path, around 2:30 p.m. I slowed down as I approached an intersection somewhere between Clarke and Greene Ave but, after seeing it was clear, I decided to continue through, mainly to keep my momentum—which hundreds of bikers do all the time—and it all went smoothly. There were no car-bike or bike-bike altercations. Yet next thing I knew, a whistle was blaring behind me. I stopped and turned around to see what had happened, only to find this G.I Joe-like officer running towards me at full-speed.

It was all so overly-dramatic—the chase, the questioning, the identification process. I mean, I truly could not believe it was me that he was pulling over. I was issued a $48 ticket, which although it isn’t a substantial amount, it still puts a decent dent in my already-too-small student budget.

I thought I was the anomaly until, within 24 hours of being issued my ticket, I found at least two other cyclists on social media who received tickets for going through stop signs. These two cyclists were ticketed in front of Laurier Park and at the corner of Bellechasse and St Dominique, according to two Facebook posts on the MTL Trading Hole page.

The whole situation reached another level of ridiculous when the officer ticketing me attempted to reassure me by saying: “I’m issuing you this ticket in the name of road safety.”

Hold up. Rewind. Let’s pretend that my ticket was truly issued “in the name of road safety.” Firstly, I would have been pegged in an area where the safety of road-users is legitimately threatened. For example, Melville Ave, where cyclists would be emerging from Westmount Park, having gained speed through the sloped, winding paths. This is blocks away from Clarke Ave though, and had I been flagged there, I likely would not be writing this article. But was an officer stopping cyclists there? Nope.

Because you see, fellow bikers, these cops don’t get into their cruisers wanting to make our roads safer. The Montreal police have admitted previously that “officers in the city’s special traffic squad are given traffic ticket quotas,” according to CBC News Montreal. Following this is a statement highlighting how the police didn’t admit to traffic quotas earlier because “it would have created negative publicity,” reports the same CBC News article. Does this sound as though all this ticketing is truly “in the name of road safety?”

And to what avail? The issuing of this ticket to me and a few other bikers won’t cause some societal cathartic re-evaluation of how we navigate and share the roads. It’s time we find a more effective solution—something that really is in the name of road safety.

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Cycling incident is only the latest in a cycle of brutality

A dark window into our roads, our police force, and even our society

On Sept. 4, a police cruiser in Quebec City killed a cyclist. The unfortunate biker was Guy Blouin, 48, of Quebec City, though he remained unidentified until the day after the incident. Blouin died in hospital.

Although the Service de Police de la Ville de Quebec have yet to announce their own version of events, at least one witness said the man was run over twice by the police cruiser. Local Alexandre Beaulieu told Radio-Canada that “They ran over the guy. The guy ended up under the car. For an entire 15 seconds, he was under the tire in a fetal position.”

A vigil was held in St. Roch on Friday, at which locals demanded answers and justice for the murder. Despite the peaceful protesters’ best attempts, however, Blouin will no doubt slip from national consciousness soon, as will his fellow cyclist and non-cyclist victims.

Why do police fail to protect cyclists so often? Cycling has never been safe in Montreal. Just in the last year two other Montreal bikers, not to mention pedestrians, have died in car accidents. And that’s not considering the children, pets and property harmed or destroyed by police officers each year.

Globally, the police are responsible for casual injustices every day, with the recent uprising in Ferguson, Missouri, and the incidents during the 2012 student protests in Montreal as two prominent examples. In March, Victor White III was shot to death while handcuffed in the backseat of a Louisiana police cruiser. This month, a Turkish cop took a selfie as a man committed suicide on a bridge behind him. The list goes on and on, an endless stream of people in uniforms harassing, abusing and neglecting to protect strangers for no logical reason.

Why do we have to be afraid of getting killed by the police? Why do we have to be afraid of getting killed by unsympathetic, reckless drivers? Why do we collectively forget the deaths of people like Blouin, White or Martin?

Maybe it’s our privilege.  As a Western nation, and one of the most prosperous in the world, Canada has grown accustomed to its consumerist lifestyle. Our wants are satisfied quickly, giving many a false sense of importance. We dread the loss of this sense of importance, and are unhinged by the interruption of our comforting routines of consumption. Perhaps it is this false sense of rightfulness, and the underlying fear of being stripped of the things we value and allow to give us value, that makes drivers scream at cyclists and police officers act like hired thugs.

Or maybe it’s these dangerous times. With over 200 mass shootings in the United States this year, and an increasingly militarized police, it’s easier to be leery of strangers.

Or maybe we’re all just self-involved.

Or maybe cops tend to be the kind of people who are hungry for power, and we’re all so preoccupied we forget the outside world.

Whatever the answer may be, it’s clear that society is at fault. We don’t value community, and we’re not mindful of each other. We rush from place to place, without any concern for the present moment, and people suffer because of it.

It’s time something about the makeup of our culture changes, or we’ll keep trampling innocent people until the whole world is in ruins.

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Photos: Montreal students protest tuition hikes outside Stock Exchange

Photos by Navneet Pall

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News

Artists protest Bonaventure police shooting

MNA and Québec solidaire spokesperson Amir Khadir attended the protest. Photo by Navneet Pall
Artists and activists gathered inside the Bonaventure metro station last Wednesday to remember Farshad Mohammadi, the 34-year-old homeless man who was shot and killed by Montreal police at the station earlier this month. Organized by Stefan Christoff and the Howl Arts Collective, protesters spoke out against Mohammadi’s death, describing the incident as an act of police brutality. Demonstrators also sang songs and performed poetry at the vigil.

Police opened fire on Mohammadi on Jan. 6 as he ran away after stabbing one of the officers in the station. Mohammadi’s death has sparked debate in the city about the treatment of Montreal’s homeless population. The Old Brewery Mission estimates that there are nearly 30,000 homeless people in the Greater Montreal Area.
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Seeking justice, dignity and truth

The coalition marched carrying a banner depicting the faces of their lost loved ones. Photo by Gilda Poorjabar

The Justice for Victims of Police Killings Coalition, along with Concordia’s Quebec Public Interest Research Group, marched on Saturday in a commemorative vigil for victims of police brutality.

“We want to commemorate our loved ones for these violent and unnecessary ways and reach out to other families that feel isolated,” said Julie Matson, whose father Ben Matson was one of the victims commemorated at the vigil. “We all come from different backgrounds, but we all have the same experience when it comes to killings with the police.”

The coalition is made up of family members and friends of Mohamed Anas Bennis, Claudio Castagnetta, Ben Matson, Quilem Registre, Gladys Tolley and Fredy Villanueva, all of whom died as a result of violent altercations with police.

The march started at the Fraternité des policiers et policières de Montreal near Laurier metro station on Gilford St., where speeches were made by the family members.

“When I first started searching for the truth 10 years ago I was alone for about three years and I didn’t know what to do,” said Bridget Tolley, whose mother Gladys was killed by a Sûreté du Québec patrol car. “After I met these families, there was a lot of support and just knowing that you’re not alone was a great feeling.”

The support committee who helped organize this march is one of QPIRG Concordia’s working groups.

“It’s exceptionally important for our staff and volunteers to be here to show support for the people that are fighting for justice and dignity for themselves and families,” said QPIRG member Ashley Fortier.

Many people showed up to the event holding posters and encouraging the coalition, as well as a marching band.

“The poster I’m holding says ‘How do you sleep?’ and it has a picture of a cop sleeping with a smile on his face. It’s asking what mentality these people have in order to be able to fall asleep at night without dwelling on the things they’ve done during the day,” described one supporter, who did not want to be named.

Dominique Clark and Billy Johnson are two Concordia students who attended the march.

“It’s a very somber and serious occasion but I feel like we’re making a difference,” said Johnson. Clark, originally from New York, thought police brutality happens more often in the United States than in Canada and said she wants to make people in Montreal more aware of the situation.

The march ended with a vigil at Berri Square where family members thanked all the supporters and said some last words. Candles were lit and hot tea distributed to commemorate the victims.

“October is a bittersweet month for me thinking about my dad’s birth. Lighting this candle commemorates his birth and his death,” Matson said.

“This candle represents a light at the end of the tunnel where justice will be made,” said Tolley.

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