Montreal police union to challenge firing of seven SPVM officers over racism allegations
The union says the administrative dismissals raise fundamental legal questions and will be contested.
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Five officers from Station 39 in Montreal North and two from Station 21 downtown have been fired, and the Montreal Police Brotherhood says it will contest the dismissals, calling the method unprecedented and legally questionable.
SPVM Chief Fady Dagher announced Monday that the seven had been let go through what he called an administrative dismissal, an exceptional measure and a first in the force's history. He said the force consulted the city's lawyers to revoke the officers' accreditation and security clearance.
Union president Yves Francoeur said in a statement to members Tuesday that the approach raises fundamental legal questions. "The legal framework governing the employment relationship cannot be unilaterally rewritten by the employer simply to suit what it deems convenient under certain circumstances," he wrote. "Consequently, the union will uphold the rule of law and will take the appropriate steps to do so."
Francoeur also said that if the allegations against the officers are proven true, they would be a profound violation of the values held by Montreal police officers.
Six of the seven had already been suspended. The file on the Station 39 officers is now with Quebec's Crown prosecution office, the DPCP, to decide whether criminal charges will be laid. The DPCP confirmed to CityNews that it has received an investigation file concerning allegations of discriminatory and racist acts by officers from Station 39.
The Station 39 case, involving a 16-officer team that disbanded over the summer, centres on claims that officers cut locks of hair from racialized people to keep as trophies. Dagher said Monday that claims about a Station 21 officer urinating on a homeless person "do not correspond to anything in our internal investigations," but acknowledged a separate case involving a similar act that was not directed at a human being.
The seven dismissed officers receive no compensation, and if they seek work with another police force they must disclose that they were dismissed after an investigation. The SPVM says a new action plan on recruitment, training and promotion, with community consultations, is expected by the end of December.
Will the DPCP lay criminal charges against the Station 39 officers, and when will it decide?
What will the independent public inquiry called for by the mayor examine?
We'll update this story as answers emerge.
