Funding dries up for specialized Montreal police unit that engages community

A specialized unit within the Montreal police service, dedicated to engaging with citizens and community organizations to address social and security issues, is facing funding depletion at the end of the month.

This has local officials concerned that the unit may cease operations if the provincedoesn't renew the funding.

The quipe de concertation communautaire et de rapprochement (ECCR)was launched in September 2021 with a $7.4-million grant from the province's Ministry of Public Security. It was the first of its kind in Montreal, deploying a mixed teamof police officers and civilians across the city.

Unlike traditional emergency response units, the ECCR focuses on proactive engagement, community consultationand problem-solving to find lasting solutions to emerging or persistent social issues, according to the Service de Police de la Ville de Montral (SPVM).

Alain Vaillancourt, Montreal's executive committee member in charge of public security, expressed concern over the apparent funding disengagement on behalf of the ministry.

"We will analyze the situation and its repercussions, which will certainly have an impact," he said.

Abdelhaq Sari,the Official Opposition'spublic security critic, described the potential dismantling of the ECCR as "nonsense."

In particular, Sari said, the ECCR connected with people experiencing homelessness downtown.

"The end of this team is all the more worrying as it takes place in the midst of the homelessness crisis," said Sari.

"Knowing that it had, among other things, the mandate to intervene with vulnerable people, we fear that the latter will fall to the bottom of the list of intervention priorities and be left even more to their own devices."

ECCR has done 'exceptional work'

In a statement, the SPVM's communications division told Radio-Canada that the ECCR "has done exceptional work over the past three years."

"The SPVM would also like to salute the police and civilian employees of this team and to tell them that their role and expertise will remain at the heart of its police approach," the statement said.

The Quebec and Montreal governments decide how they use public funds, and the SPVM's responsibility is to make the best possible use of the funds granted to it and to make politicians aware of the extent of its needs, the statement said.

The president of the police brotherhood, Yves Francoeur, denounced the situation, citing particular concern for the abrupt impact it will have on community programs.

Along with addressing homelessness, he said the ECCR team was working closely with community groups that help abused women and vulnerable youth.

The five civilian advisors on the ECCR team will have their contracts terminated at the end of March when the funding dries up. As for the police officers on the teams, the SPVMis hoping they will stay on post until the fall, to assess whether a new version of the ECCR can preserve their expertise in neighbourhood stations.

Spring budget still in the making

The SPVM's communication division says there are hundreds of vacant positions that cannot be filled despite a record number of candidates, because Quebec's police academy is already at maximum capacity.

"After another year during which police officers worked overtime, at the risk of burning out, the SPVM will have to, in the short term, review the service offering that it can reasonably deliver," the statement said.

The provincial government's spring budget will be presentedMarch 12. Until then, Public Security Minister Franois Bonnardel has declined to provide further information about ECCR's funding "given the current pre-budget process."

A spokesperson for his office said in a statement that municipal administrations are in charge of budgeting for police services.

The Ministry of Public Security can finance one-off initiatives, but this has a beginning and an end, which is agreed upon with the municipalities as soon as this funding is granted, the statement said.

Jennifer Maccarone, the Liberal Party's public security critic, said the government is putting an end to a team that it itself had set up.

"The minister must reverse his decision and provide Montreal with the necessary funding to maintain and perpetuate this team," she said.