{"id":854687,"date":"2026-08-11T23:08:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T23:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/854687\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T23:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T23:08:09","slug":"montreal-police-chief-to-update-public-on-response-to-racism-and-misconduct-allegations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/854687\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal police chief to update public on response to racism and misconduct allegations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Chief Fady Dagher, shown in June, will speak about the situation and take questions at the public event Tuesday evening at Montreal’s City Hall.Andrej Ivanov\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Montreal police will provide an update Tuesday on their response to allegations of racist behaviour by officers in the city\u2019s north end. <\/p>\n

Chief Fady Dagher will speak about the situation and take questions at the public event Tuesday evening at City Hall, which will also be streamed online. <\/p>\n

The public discussion comes two months after the police force disbanded a 16-member patrol unit in the city\u2019s Montr\u00e9al-Nord borough over the allegations, including claims that police officers cut the hair of racialized citizens to turn into \u201ctrophies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The allegations rocked the city, prompting protests and demands for police reform. At the time, Chief Dagher said he was \u201cdeeply shocked\u201d by the situation.<\/p>\n

Sixteen Montreal police officers sanctioned over racism allegations<\/a><\/p>\n

Montreal police have launched an internal investigation of the allegations after police employees raised concerns in March about unacceptable actions and behaviour by officers. They have revealed little about its progress since it became public in June. <\/p>\n

Of the 16 officers, three were suspended, three were reassigned to administrative duties and the other 10 were transferred to other units, according to The Canadian Press. <\/p>\n

Montreal police have said many of the officers had just three or four years of service. <\/p>\n

Chief Dagher has said criminal charges could be brought against some officers. But Anick Cantin, a spokesperson for the Quebec Crown prosecutor\u2019s office, said Tuesday that police have not yet submitted a complete investigation file. <\/p>\n

In a presentation document prepared for Tuesday\u2019s discussion, the force says it has held more than 250 internal meetings and more than 100 outreach activities with communities since the allegations were made public. <\/p>\n

It also says it\u2019s \u201cfostering a real cultural shift\u201d and encouraging internal and external reporting. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Andrej Ivanov\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Demonstrators march outside of a Montreal police station on June 15 in response to the allegations of racist behaviour.Andrej Ivanov\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the allegations have provoked condemnation of the efforts by Montreal police to tackle racism within the force.<\/p>\n

Last week, the Regroupement des intervenants et intervenantes d\u2019origine ha\u00eftienne, a social-justice group based in Montr\u00e9al-Nord, demanded serious sanctions for officers found guilty of racist acts, including dismissal. <\/p>\n

It also called for an independent mechanism for reporting racial profiling and discrimination and for the Montr\u00e9al-Nord police station to be placed under civilian command. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis situation goes beyond the mere issue of individual disciplinary measures,\u201d the group said in a news release. \u201cIt raises fundamental questions regarding public trust, institutional accountability, and the fight against racial profiling and all forms of discrimination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editorial: Montreal police must confront racism on the force<\/a><\/p>\n

Quebec Domestic Security Minister Ian Lafreni\u00e8re has appointed an independent observer to monitor the internal Montreal police investigation. <\/p>\n

He has also said that depending on the findings, the investigation could be transferred to another police force or to Quebec\u2019s police watchdog. He has not ruled out the possibility of a public inquiry.<\/p>\n

Quebec\u2019s police ethics commissioner has also launched an investigation. <\/p>\n

With a report from The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Chief Fady Dagher, shown in June, will speak about the situation and take…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":854688,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338,5756],"class_list":["post-854687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal","tag-yesapplenews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}