Montreal police target homeless in subway

Montreal police have created a new squad to deal with a growing number ofhomeless peopleloitering in the city's Metro stations.

The department's subwayunit says it has dispatched four police officers to reduce thenumber of homeless people sleeping in andhanging aroundstations.

Police say the goal is to re-establish a sense of security among Metro users and businesses that operate in thestations.

With winter returning, police say many homeless people occupy public spaces insubway areas andthat has led tonumerous complaints.

"Our work consists of ensuring that the people who use the Metro can do so in total security, and ensuring a harmonious co-existence between users and the homeless," says Commander Alain Larivire of the police service'sMetro unit.

But Larivire says they won't simply be kicking homeless people out into the cold.

"We are tolerating people in the Metro. At the same time, we will explain to them what is tolerated and not tolerated for example, if people urinate or showaggressive behaviour," says Larivire

TheMetro unitsays itbegan this initiative a month agoand so farhassome tentative support from organizations that help the homeless.

"I understand when homeless people are around ... [people] feel insecure," said Cyril Morgan of the Welcome Hall mission. But Morgan has concerns over how police may treat the homeless people they find.

"Just putting them on the street is probably not a great idea," he said.