Montreal mayor urges calm, vows to uncover truth after police unit suspected of racist behaviour

Montreal mayor urges calm, vows to uncover truth after police unit suspected of racist behaviour

Allegations undermine public trust, Soraya Martinez Ferrada says

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada called for calm and pledged that Montrealers would learn the truth about allegations of co-ordinated racist behaviour involving a police unit based in in Montréal-Nord.

"Any form of racial profiling, discrimination, or violence is unacceptable. Such actions have no place in Montreal, in any society, or in any of our institutions," Martinez Ferrada told reporters at a press conference Saturday morning convened in response to the allegations.

Sixteen police officers from Station 39 are under investigation for racist and hateful acts allegedly committed against Black and Arab people during police stops, Montreal police confirmed late Friday.

Addressing the residents of Montréal-Nord and those who have "felt watched, targeted, profiled," and those who have filed complaints without feeling heard, she said: "I hear you."

"The bond of trust between the public and those who are there to protect us has been weakened," she added.

"I urge everyone to remain calm and act responsibly. Montrealers deserve to know the whole truth about what happened."

Martinez Ferrada said that she would ask all the necessary questions to get to the bottom of this matter.

Montreal police chief 'extremely surprised'

The allegations, first reported by Radio-Canada and other media, prompted an unprecedented late-night news conference Friday in which Montreal Police Chief Fady Dagher said the investigation is ongoing and that the force would not tolerate such behaviour.

"I was extremely surprised. I didn't think it was possible in 2026. This is how deeply deeply hurt I am," he said, describing these officers as "tarnishing our uniform."According to a Radio-Canada source, some officers allegedly collected pieces of locs that had been cut from people during police interventions.

SPVM cracks down on Montréal-Nord unit suspected of co-ordinated racist behaviour

Tickets were also allegedly issued to citizens solely on the basis of their ethnic background, Radio-Canada reports.

Dagher refused to answer reporters' questions in detail while these cases are still under investigation, but confirmed such allegations have been made. He also confirmed that two police officers are suspended, three were reassigned and the rest of the unit was "relocated" so they won't have contact with citizens for now.He said two cases were submitted to Quebec's director of criminal and penal prosecutions, known by its French acronym DPCP, which is examining whether criminal charges should be laid.

Station 39 colleagues reported the behaviour and an internal investigation was launched just over two months ago, according to Radio-Canada.

Hénia Ould-Hammou is a journalist with CBC Montreal. She previously completed an internship with La Presse after graduating from McGill University with a double major in political science and psychology. Hénia is interested in international and societal issues, community stories, soccer, politics and rap. Send her an email at henia.ould-hammou@cbc.ca

With files from CBC's Isaac Olson