In collaboration with the Sûreté du Québec, the Service de police de Laval and the Service de police de l’agglomération de Longueuil, the economic crimes unit (Section des crimes économiques) dismantled a major “grandparent scam” fraud ring in May 2016. The network had defrauded 500 victims in Québec since 2014, 350 of whom live in SPVM territory. Most of the victims were seniors. The total amount of the fraud is estimated at some $2.5 million, $1.3 million of which was taken from victims in Montréal.

For the “Foyer” investigation, the economic crimes unit used the Police Practice to Counter Elder Abuse (IPAM). The investigators directed all the fraud victims to the Montréal Crime Victims’ Assistance Centre (CAVAC). In the three months before the fraud ring was dismantled, the CAVAC counsellors communicated with the victims. Then, the police officers in charge of IPAM met or spoke with 322 other victims. In August 2016, in partnership with CAVAC, the economic crimes section accompanied several victims to the Court House to attend the suspects’ bail hearings.

Over 2,000 people met with police officers from a dozen SPVM neighbourhood stations as part of the Coffee with a cop program in 2016.

The Coffee with a cop initiative is a friendly way to meet with residents in their regular environment to break down the physical and psychological barriers that sometimes exist between police and various groups of residents. The informal context of the discussions is conducive to bridge-building and developing a mutual sense of trust.

These meetings help the police officers establish good relationships with the residents and business people in the target neighbourhoods and allow the officers to mould their efforts and crime prevention projects based on their discussions with the public.

As such, Coffee with a cop is a great way to reinforce people’s sense of security and promote SPVM programs to the public.

The project is based on an American initiative of the same name.

The React – Report awareness campaign, carried out in collaboration with the police services in Longueuil and Laval, the STM and the AMT, encourages victims and witnesses to report sexual assault or sexual misconduct that occurs in public transit.

Although this kind of behaviour is not common, more infractions of a sexual nature have been reported in public transit in Montréal in recent years. Victims are often reluctant to report behaviours such as sexual touching, voyeurism or exhibitionism, and potential witnesses are not always aware of what is happening around them. But an aggressor can be identified more easily than people think. Filing a complaint with the police is the first step toward arresting a suspect.

The campaign led to an increase in the number of complaints, with 44 sexual touching complaints reported in 2016, compared to just 31 in 2015. As for indecent behaviour, 38 cases were recorded, compared to 37 the year before.
The SPVM made 29 arrests, and 22 investigations are underway.

The “Courir et bâtir son avenir” project, developed by PDQ 39 in collaboration with three high schools and the Borough of Montréal-Nord, invites youth from the neighbourhood to run with police officers and education workers. The goal is to bring the youth, the SPVM and the community closer together. It promotes the personal achievements of youth and the adoption of healthy lifestyles, while fostering mutual assistance, a sense of belonging and self-confidence.

This program uses a collaborative approach that forges bonds between the youth and the schools, in a playful and non-interventionist setting of mutual respect.

In its first year, 36 students took part in biweekly training and went on occasional outings. Police officers, civilian employees, coaches, teachers, principals and health partners all contributed to the different activities.

The Borough also offered participants the chance to take courses in first aid, leadership and job hunting.

Having received lots of positive comments from the participants, PDQ 39 plans to continue the project in 2017.

In November 2016, the SPVM exploded a vehicle as part of an exercise to test theexplosion technicians in the emergency response team (Groupe tactiqued’intervention), the technicians in the forensic identification unit (Section de l’identification judiciaire), the investigators in the arson unit (Section des incendies criminels) and the specialists in the forensic science laboratory (Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et médico-légales). This exercise was carried out with the support of Defence Research and Development Canada.

The purpose of the controlled exercise—the simulation of a realistic crime scene—was to allow the investigators to test the procedures, techniques and equipment while furthering their skills. This type of investigation requires leading-edge expertise and a capacity to act with speed and coordination in a chaotic environment.

Montréal had not conducted any post-explosion exercises in 20 years. In the 1990s, at the time of the “biker war,” events involving explosives were practically routine in the territory of Montréal, and police know-how on the matter was absolutely exceptional. Since events of this type have become extremely rare, the 2016 exercise was an opportunity to develop the post-explosion management expertise of a new generation of investigators.

On June 9, 2016, the officers from PDQ 38 launched a new prevention and awareness tool with the opening performance of the play Haut comme trois pommes et déjà…, an interactive show that broaches difficult situations with young children.

This unique tool, which sprang from one officer’s imagination and was developed

into a play by the officers at PDQ 38, is offered only to pre-school, kindergarten and Cycle 1 students in the participating schools in the Borough of Plateau Mont-Royal. It features puppets handled by police officers. In simple scenes within the children’s grasp, the puppets interact with a police officer and invite the children to take part, talk and offer solutions to a variety of problems, including bullying.

The project stemmed from a need expressed by the schools in the neighbourhood, which did not have the resources to raise certain problematic issues with their youngest students, and it has garnered many great comments from spectators young and old. Since the launch, nine performances have been given at the 13 schools that are part of the program.

The “Adopt-an- intersection” project helps raise police awareness of high-accident intersections to reduce the number of collisions by reinforcing police presence at these locations. Assigning a specific intersection to a group of officers increases their accountability and ownership of the target.

In 2016, with the help of the operations and specialized patrols division (DSOPS), PDQ 15 targeted five intersections with a high rate of collisions. Each team was assigned an intersection.

The goal was to increase visibility by conducting at least 50 interventions at their intersection throughout the year, because recurring police presence encourages residents to embrace safer behaviour and increase their vigilance as they approach intersections.

Over the year, whenever possible, each intervention involved at least 30 minutes of police presence at the targeted intersections. During these interventions, officers’ main goal was not to issue tickets but simply to be visible.

In light of the interest expressed by the officers and the comments received by the residents, the project will be extended to 2017.