The budget cuts imposed by the city of Montreal do not stop at the police officers: there will be no more expenses until the end of the year, and even washing patrol cars is now prohibited.
• Also read: Two out of three Montreal police officers earned more than $100,000 in 2022
In internal notes accessed by Le Journal, district station officials told officials that any purchase was strictly prohibited until 2024. We therefore ask everyone to “save” materials such as paper and printer ink as much as possible. , pencils and even protective gloves.
“Nitrile gloves are essential for securing a crime scene,” said a police officer who was not authorized to speak to the media. There we have to run to the other positions to make sure there is something for everyone. And if we’re wasting our time doing stupid things like that, we’re not patrolling.”
Biological fluid
It is also impossible to have the patrol cars washed in the next two months. The only exception is disinfection, for example if biological fluid (urine, blood, vomit) is found in the vehicle.
“It’s so ridiculous that we started joking about it,” said a patrolman on condition of anonymity. Do we need to start bringing our toilet paper?”
This new policy is part of significant budget cuts that the City of Montreal had to announce earlier this month due to significant revenue declines during the year. In fact, several factors have led to the city now having to tighten its belt, including a loss of $40 million in welcome taxes due to the difficult real estate market.
Due to the shortage of police officers, the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) also saw a significant increase in overtime this year.
“There was a time when it was almost urban legend that police officers who had already worked double hours came back on a day off,” says another agent. I remember it was pretty much only the people who had worked during the Bell Center riots or during the student protests that experienced this. Now it has become the norm.”
We lack police officers
In addition, Le Journal reported two weeks ago that at the last Grand Prix Police overtime increased by 57% compared to last year. The Montreal Police Officers’ Brotherhood then stated that the SPVM is currently experiencing a staffing shortage of between 12 and 15%.
In addition, an extensive recruitment campaign is underway to fill the ranks: a promotional video was recently released, a permanent team has been established and a special SPVM cohort – which has already received a job offer in Montreal – will graduate at the end of January the Quebec National Police Academy in Nicolet.
The president of the fraternity and the SPVM declined our interview requests. For its part, the City of Montreal pointed out that “this decision has no impact on the services provided directly to citizens and no impact on the recruitment of police officers.”
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