Racism allegations at Montreal police raise questions about supervision of recruits

In June, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) disbanded a 16-officer team at Station 39 in Montréal-Nord after racism allegations. Chief Fady Dagher noted that many of the officers had less than five years' experience.

Data from an access-to-information request show community patrol officers averaged 4.2 years of experience in 2026, down from 7.1 in 2021.

"If you have a good organizational structure, the bad apples will be spotted faster than if you let them go off on their own."

— Victor Armony, UQAM sociologist

The SPVM says recruits get a 15-week integration program with experienced mentors, and that supervisors regularly go out with patrol officers. It says it is too early to say whether supervision was lacking, since investigations are under way.