As racism allegations surface, Montréal-Nord community leaders ask police: What now?

People working with Montréal-Nord’s youth say there is a pressing “urgency to act” following a police racism scandal in the borough. 

While calling the suspension of 16 officers a “courageous decision,” Sheila Fortuné, general director of the Maison des jeunes L’Ouverture, said accountability among Montreal police cannot stop there.

“But what do we do now?” Fortuné asked.  “That’s where we are today.”

At a news conference Monday, Fortuné and other community leaders said they want to sit down with Fady Dagher, Montreal’s police chief, in the days to come to map out a path forward.

Fortuné said she was “outraged but not surprised” by the allegations, which include officers collecting pieces of locs, sometimes referred to as dreadlocks, that had been cut from individuals’ hair during police interventions to keep as “trophies.”

Radio-Canada also reported that tickets were allegedly issued to citizens solely based on their ethnic background.

In all, 16 police officers from Station 39 are under investigation for racist and hateful acts allegedly committed against Black and Arab people during police stops, Montreal police confirmed late Friday.

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Slim Hammami, a co-ordinator with Café-Jeunesse Multiculturel, another local group, said he regularly hears accounts of young men in the neighbourhood being targeted by police.

He gave several examples, including one of a young man being violently detained by police while walking alone at 3 a.m., and another stopped and told to get on his knees for jaywalking late at night.

Hammami’s group and others have brought their concerns to police and little has changed, he said. 

When asked how she sees the latest allegations fitting into the history of the borough that includes the fatal police shootings of Fredy Villanueva in 2008 and Bony Jean-Pierre in 2016, Fortuné said simply: “It’s a big step back.”

On CBC’s Daybreak, Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher said Monday he’s determined to see the allegations against the officers brought to court.

The SPVM has already recommended criminal charges for two of the 16 officers under investigation at Station 39, and Dagher says he’s expecting more allegations to surface.

He said that the SPVM is “very serious” about addressing the problem and that there are “going to be consequences.”

The Quebec government is facing calls to hold a public inquiry into the allegations, but not everyone involved wants to see that happen.

Fo Niemi, a civil rights activist and executive director of Centre of Research and Race Relations, said people are “getting tired of studies” when they “can’t get funding for youth programs.”

“People want to make sure there are effective solutions,” said Niemi, who was at the news conference.

“Public inquiries can go on for years and produce a great report but then the recommendations are not implemented.”

SPVM chief speaks about investigation into officers accused of ‘co-ordinated’ racist, hateful acts