Concerns about rising gun violence in Montreal as weather warms up

So far this year in Montreal, gunshots have been fired one out of every three days.

Statistics compiled by the Journal de Montreal show at least 36 instances.

Montreal police (SPVM) spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant says it's been a busy week—including an armed robbery in Ahuntsic-Cartierville and a seizure involving four firearms, $14K in cash and a large amount of fentanyl.

And as the weather warms up, historically, that means more shootings.

"There's a rise of events obviously because people are outside. It's nice outside," he said.

The head of the SPVM's organized crime division, Dominic Cote, told the Journal de Montreal it's going to be a hot summer for gun crime.

It's unusual to hear, says former police spokesperson Andre Durocher.

"The culture has always been to stick our heads in the sand. To not scare people away, reassure them," he said.

The latest available police data shows crimes involving guns are on the rise.

In 2021, there were 516 crimes where a firearm was present. In 2020 there were 437. In 2019 there were 383.

Criminologist Maria Mourani says that much of the crime is linked to street gangs. But unlike before, this isn't about control of territory or the black market.

"It's a lot of personal beefs being settled. It's much more impulsive, and it shows the gang population is younger than before. A lot of older street gang members were killed or left," she said,

While the province promised to hire more officers, Durocher says, it hasn't been going to plan.

"I was talking to some SPVM people over the past few weeks, and they were saying we just can't get those numbers," he said.

Durocher says one way to get more officers on the ground is to take them off administrative duties for the summer.

But at the end of the day, he says, the best way to combat the trend is to prevent people from turning to violence.