Facing a hot summer of gun violence, Laval police are stepping up their criminal prosecution strategy, which has already shown promising results, reducing shootings in the area by 50% over the past year.
“We want to tell criminals we’re on to them, they’ll see us in their rear-view mirror. We won’t let her go. All this to give citizens the same sense of security as before,” says Jean-François Rousselle, deputy chief of criminal investigation at the Laval Police Department (SPL).
With gun violence escalating throughout the greater Montreal area, Laval police took the bull by the horns and launched the Paradoxes Project. Last summer, three mid-afternoon shootings in just as many days terrorized the residents of Laval.
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“The phenomenon really presented a challenge to our police officers who wanted to break this wave,” reports Mr. Rousselle.
MARTIN ALARIE / THE MONTREAL JOURNAL
Jean-François Rousselle, deputy chief of the Criminal Investigation Department of the SPL.
A hard core
During the summer season in Laval, various squads will be on the ground and exerting heavy pressure “on the hard core of criminals who are closely linked to the shootings on the territory”.
Among other things, the Equinoxe force will intensify its visits to bars, terraces and restaurants where organized crime people meet to gather information. Police officers on bikes will be visible in the parks and will prioritize problem areas.
In their strategy, the police also prioritize cases related to urban violence, sometimes even to the detriment of other investigations.
106 shots avoided
In the past year, the number of firearms fired has fallen by 50%. In 2022, police found 99 cases, up from 205 the year before.
MAXIME DELAND/QMI AGENCY
On Tuesday, October 18, 2022, shots were fired into the window of an apartment building on 63rd Avenue in the Chomedey district of Laval. MAXIME DELAND/AGENCY QMI
“These are 106 shots that did not take place in 2022 and which could have caused collateral damage, such as injuring innocent citizens,” stresses Jean-François Rousselle.
The number of arrests and weapons confiscations has also doubled compared to the average for the last three years.
If the strategy is working, it’s because the police have changed the way they work internally, the deputy director believes. “We tend to work very divided in the police force. street gangs, drugs, murders; Everything was divided into silos, he admits. There we focus on armed violence and the squads focus on that, meet and work together.
Unpredictable
Urban violence remains a volatile and unpredictable phenomenon: “A conflict on Snapchat or Instagram can ignite the powder. Sometimes minor conflicts, like romances, escalate into gunfights. And gang alliances are changing rapidly. It makes it difficult to understand logically what is happening on the ground and the police have to constantly innovate,” explains Mr. Rousselle.
For this reason, community agents work in prevention with youth, particularly through police officers deployed in secondary schools. In partnership with a community organization, the SPL has also created boxing activities that allow police officers to interact with young people at risk of falling into the cycle of crime.
A few statistics in Laval
Armory:
- 2019: 18
- 2020: 40
- 2021: 43
- 2022: 24
Number of arrests related to firearms incidents:
- 2019: 26
- 2020: 34
- 2021: 38
- 2022: 46
Firearms confiscated:
2019: 27
2020: 40
2021: 41
2022: 57