SPVM | The “fake” number jumps

Philip Teasera-Lessard
Tap

In 2020, 570 Montreal police officers declared they had a “duplication” compared to 282 in 2017. In total, there are approximately 4,600 men and women in uniform in the SPVM.

These are data made public by the service after accessing the information request. This data does not include police officers who manage rental property on their behalf.

By email, the SPVM argued that these statements were clearly relevant to police officers doing both jobs, but also to police officers who reported voluntary participation on the hockey team or at school.

“In recent years, the SPVM has implemented a number of measures to make all its police officers aware of the legal liability under Article 118. Police Act », Referring to the text of the law that creates a legal obligation to report its other obligations. “To do this, various communication activities are set in motion (internal press releases, information conferences, follow-ups, etc.). The statistics testify to the efforts made over the past few years.”

The Brotherhood of Police declined to comment on the matter.

A police broker

While the number of police officers reporting duplicates has doubled, the total number of such reports has grown even faster (an officer can report more than one “duplicate”).

Nearly 1,000 declarations were registered by the SPVM in 2020, compared to 371 in 2017. However, this data also includes the management of rental buildings.

“It is important to note that these figures do not take into account the frequency and hours allotted to these parallel occupations,” Gabriel Fontaine-Girox, a communications officer, explained by email. “Police officers declare any job, function or office, other income, educational activity, paid or unpaid activity in non-profit organizations.”

The police fake issue came into the news in 2017 when a violent blizzard engulfed hundreds of motorists on the A13. Tap The Sûreté du Québec official also revealed that he was a real estate broker and had an appointment with a notary on the day of the storm. However, the report on the events did not retain this point as a detailed factor in the confusion.

Quebec has amended its law to completely ban the duplication of work by police officers in executive positions. In 2017, before the rules were changed, 21 SPVM executives held other positions besides their police work.

With William Leclerc, Tap