Homicides were down but crime rose in 2023, says Montreal police in annual report
There have been fewer homicides in Montreal last year compared to 2022, but overall the number of crimes has increased by 12 per cent, noted the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) while presenting its annual report Monday afternoon.
Homicides went down from 42 in 2022 to 31 in 2023. The number of assaults, however, has been steadily increasing since 2021, going up from 15,818 in 2022 to 17,934 in 2023.
"The number of armed violence incidents decreased by 26 per cent. This is a positive result, but we remain fully aware of the importance of continuing our efforts on several fronts in 2024," said Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher. "We still have great challenges in front of us."
So far, there have been 17 homicides in the territory covered by Montreal police since the beginning of the year.
Ted Rutland, an associate professor at Concordia University's department of geography, planning and environment with a particular focus on urban security and policing, says the police force isn't built to stop those killings from happening.
"We're talking about domestic disputes. We're talking about fights between people who know each other or don't know each other that get out of control," said Rutland. "There's no amount of policing that can prevent these things."
Instead, he says underlying issues such as stress, mental illness and other deeper social problems must be addressed.
"Citizens who walk around this city can see that there are a ton of unmet social needs that are at the root of people's feelings that the city is unsafe," he said.
Vehicle theft and hate crimes of concern
Among the challenges facing the SPVM is the rise in property crime of which simple and motor vehicle theft account for the largest proportion. Vehicle theft has increased "significantly" in 2023, said SPVM deputy director CĂ©dric Couture, adding that the SPVM, on average, located 17 stolen vehicles per day last year.
"This phenomenon which has been on the rise since 2022 could be explained by the economic disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and a shortage of new vehicles and vehicle parts," said Couture.
Over 11,700 vehicles were reported stolen in 2023 compared to 9,583 in 2022.
Hate crimes have also gone up. Montrealers reported 353 hate crimes and 171 hate incidents in 2023. Most of these targeted a person's ethnicity, national origin, skin colour or religion.
"This is a record," said Dagher.
Several of these hate crimes and incidents were reported following the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war in October, says the SPVM in its report.
Sexual orientation, identity or gender expression was the third-highest motivation for hate crimes, accounting for 15 per cent of the hate crimes reported.
Getting closer to communities, but no moratorium on police stops
In its new strategic plan for the upcoming two years, the SPVM is looking at three main goals: to gain citizen's trust, to reassure the population and be feared by criminal groups.
However, getting closer to communities might prove difficult if the police force doesn't address issues such as racial profiling, says Rutland.
In June 2023, an independent research team published a report on street checks and recommended the SPVM order a moratorium on random police stops which the police force refused, aiming to change the culture instead.
"The way that we suspect someone of being up to no good is highly shaped by racism and so that would be something that many cities have done," said Rutland.
He adds that building strong relationships with communities also means knowing when to remove the SPVM from certain situations.
"And I know that the SPVM is actually in favour of this, but we're going to need some leadership from the government. Because we've had 30 years of social cutbacks and increasing police budgets, we expect the police to do all kinds of things that we wouldn't have expected them to do 30 years ago."
In the fall, Rutland co-wrote a report criticizing the usefulness of mixed squads â made up of police officers and intervention workers â when responding to situations involving vulnerable people.
The SPVM says it also aims to improve the accountability of its different units.
