Can Montreal police root out racism within its force? | The Corner Booth

Montreal police Chief Fady Dagher announced on Thursday the SPVM’s five-year plan to root out discrimination within its force and in how it deals with the general public.

This week, Dagher joined hosts Bill Brownstein and Aaron Rand on the latest episode of The Corner Booth at the Snowdon Deli to explain why he considers himself “part of the solution” when it comes to weeding out racism from the inside.

“My DNA, my blood is from Montreal, and I’m Lebanese from the Ivory Coast,” Dagher said.

“ The police department cannot stay at 17 per cent of visible minorities when Montreal is at 50 per cent. It cannot.”

In the last three years, Dagher said, the SPVM has already seen the force become more diverse, going from six per cent non-white to 17 per cent.

“But for me, it’s not about statistics. It’s about attracting talent,” he added.

Dagher also spoke about protecting communities, such as Jewish Montrealers, in times when antisemitism is on the rise. The SPVM made a point of not publicizing the increased presence around Jewish institutions in the city in wake of the Bondi Beach terrorist attacks or war in Iran because Dagher didn’t want to “excite” the population.

“I’m not going to say it’s cause and effect,” Dagher said when talking about Iran. “In Toronto, they came out and said they were going to increase visibility. And what happened in Toronto a few weeks ago?

“ Three shootings. And there, the consulate of the United States was shot, too. What happened in Montreal? Since the war of Iran, we have demonstrations, but no shootings.”

Dagher also pointed out for all the shootings at Jewish schools and synagogues in Montreal, suspects have been arrested, but he added it’s “extremely frustrating” charges were dropped against a woman who allegedly made threats toward people taking part in a pro-Israel counter-protest.

“ Put yourself in the place of my police officers,” he said. “Especially with those cases where they were shooting at the schools. It took us thousands of hours of work to arrest the suspects, they barely got something, and now they’re back on the streets.”

The Corner Booth is also available on The Gazette’s YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts and on Spotify.

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