Community Relations

In the scope of their daily activities, the police are called upon to respond to the citizens’ safety concerns. That’s why the SPVM wants its officers to listen to the public, to make sure they’re offering the services people expect.

Special efforts are made to develop trust between police officers and the public. In every neighbourhood, close, regular contact with the citizens is maintained in order to:

• Share information
• Identify the needs and expectations shared by all citizens

This allows the police to adapt their actions to reflect concerns that have been identified.

Cultural communities

The cultural communities in Montréal are numerous and diverse. Every immigrant community has to rise to the challenge of adapting the cultural wealth of its own values and customs to the realities of its adoptive country.

The SPVM strives to serve all of the citizens of its territory, and it is sensitive to the particular situation of the members of Montréal’s cultural communities. The organization wants to meet the specific needs of these groups as they would any other citizen.

To succeed with this angle of their mission, police officers have to get to know and understand the various communities in order to develop the trust needed to establish mutual cooperation. To this end, a variety of bridge-building activities are held with the various cultural communities, such as:

• Information sessions offered in the Carrefours d’intégration for newcomers
• Sports, cultural and community activities to bring together police officers and the cultural communities
• Police sponsorship programs for youth from the cultural communities
• Police internships offered to certain members of the cultural communities
• Intercultural initiation session for police officers
• Theatre sports with new arrivals
• Community consultation process 

Theme weeks 

The SPVM makes use of many different opportunities to develop good relations with the people it serves. For example, SPVM officers participate in recurring activities that strengthen their ties with the people and at the same time develop public awareness about specific social concerns.

The annual theme week program includes a variety of community activities such as police visits to community groups, information booths, information meetings with youth and parents.

• February - Black history month
• March - Fraud prevention month
• End of March - Action against racism week
• May - Police week
• End of September - Quebec intercultural relations week
• October 24 - Journée nationale d'identification des enfants
• October - Current Mental Illness Awareness Week
• October - Semaine de la citoyenneté
• November  - Crime prevention week
• November - Drug abuse prevention week