Keep police out of Montreal high schools, community groups say

Slim Hammami was working at a community centre in Montreal North two weeks ago when he received an unexpected phone call from Alain Vaillancourt, the city of Montreal’s executive committee member responsible for public security.

Vaillancourt informed him that the city and the police department would be launching a new program this fall to combat armed violence, which has plagued several neighbourhoods over the past year.

The initiative, called Équipe-école, will focus on“prevention measures in schools and supporting staff in neighbourhoods affected by the issue of gun violence.”

The announcement would be made the next day, Vaillancourt said.

Hammami was caught off guard by the phone call, because he hadn’t been informed of the plan.

“We weren’t consulted about this, and if we were, we would have said we don’t agree with it,” said Hammami, co-ordinator of Café-Jeunesse Multiculturel, which provides support to marginalized and at-risk youth and young adults in Montreal North.

Hammami and leaders of other community groups spoke out against the new program on Thursday, saying it will adversely affect racialized youth and new immigrants.

They said they fear it will lead to repression by police and the targeting of certain students who are perceived as troublemakers.

“Montreal North is a community that’s already stigmatized; we don’t need to stigmatize our high schools,” Hammami said at a news conference on Thursday. “I am worried about the impact on our young people and their families.”

School principals will be able to reach out to the new squad if they need help dealing with a problem.

The 10-member team will also provide street-level support to local community groups to help young people with violent behaviour, or who are at risk of committing or being victimized by violence.

The creation of Équipe-école was one of the commitments made by the police department in the wake of a forum held to seek solutions to the growing problem of gun violence. Uniformed officers on the team will be joined by specialists in cybercrime who will create prevention programs on various online platforms.

The Quebec government is providing the project with a little over $4 million in funding over the next three years, while the city of Montreal is providing $400,000.

The new division will help co-ordinate the prevention work of community police officers who are already liaising with some schools.

Opponents of the program say officers will not be welcomed with open arms, adding that studies from the U.S. show that visible minorities feel less safe when officers are present in schools.

“Police in Westmount represent security and civil order, but in Montreal North they represent the cause of your (troubles),” said Blain Haile, a spokesperson with Head and Hands, a community outreach group based in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

Instead of sending police officers into schools, the money would be better spent providing more support for teachers and students, opponents say.

“The government should be investing in teachers’ salaries and electronic devices that facilitate learning,” Haile said.

After-school activities need to be expanded to keep students off the streets when classes end, she added.

About 25 per cent of students in Montreal North’s two high schools don’t graduate, Hammami said.

“We have 80,000 people and only three street workers,” he said. “The majority of the youth want to get out of poverty, but there are no other options. We have to invest in prevention, not repression. Prevention takes longer, but it works.”

Apart from the program contributing to racial profiling, opponents say many undocumented students won’t go to school if police officers are patrolling the halls.

“They fear they will be arrested and deported,” said Samira, a spokesperson for Solidarity Without Borders.

kwilton@postmedia.com

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