Montreal to provide police with body cameras and new powers

Montreal's mayor and police chief announced a plan on Friday to restore public trust in law enforcement following a series of controversies and misconduct allegations. Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada stated that the city will equip police officers with body cameras and grant them expanded powers to sanction unruly citizens. This plan, however, requires further action from the provincial government and a debate at city hall.

The mayor cited the increasing complexity of police work and the rise of instability, aggressiveness, and intimidation in recent interactions with civilians. Additionally, the city will conduct a review of police-civilian interactions to examine the factors leading to stops and adherence to established criteria.

The mayor's administration also plans to introduce a bylaw banning insults towards city employees, including police, as part of their new approach. This move follows a viral video from March showing a man insulting a police officer with misogynistic comments. The brotherhood of police officers has been advocating for such a rule for over a decade.

If enacted, the bylaw could give police the authority to issue fines for insults directed at them or other municipal employees. Similar rules are already in place in other Canadian cities like Quebec City, Sherbrooke, and Laval.

Some legal experts and social justice advocates are skeptical about granting police more powers without public consultation, especially amid the current scandal. They raised concerns that the new bylaw may disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, such as racialized residents, the unhoused, and victims of racial profiling. Police Chief Fady Dagher acknowledged that freedom of speech is not absolute and emphasized that the goal of the bylaw is to prevent violations of dignity and avoid violent verbal escalation.

A motion to debate the bylaw will be presented at the next city council meeting on Monday, with expectations of its adoption in September. Lawyer Mike Diomande, who led a successful class-action lawsuit alleging systemic racism within Montreal's police force, anticipates challenges in court if the bylaw is adopted. He emphasized that drawing the line for what constitutes an insult should be left to the courts, as it risks introducing arbitrariness in the process.