Montreal's interim police chief has delivered his final report with his suggestions about how to improve the Montreal police department.

Martin Prud'homme was appointed by the provincial government to clean house at the SPVM following years of internal dysfunction.

Two months into the position Prud'homme eliminated seven senior management positions, and announced plans to restructure the internal affairs department.

His final report was delivered to the provincial government last week and released to the public on Tuesday.

It makes 14 recommendations for the SPVM, for the city of Montreal, and for the Public Security Minister, including being vigilant about making sure the changes already being made in the SPVM continue.

Prud'homme's report said training of officers had to improve, and there had to be better ways to discipline officers when necessary.

He also recommends better coordination between the police department and various social and city services.

Recommendations

  • Create conditions conducive to ensuring Montreal police department meets legal obligations in training investigators
  • Give the SPVM power over hiring and management of human resources
  • Have the Police Organization Plan approved by the Public Security Ministry
  • The City of Montreal should consider the legal obligations of the SPVM in its annual budget
  • Update computer systems that handle management and payroll for the SPVM
  • Create a joint SQ-SPVM task force for internal affairs investigations
  • Let this joint task force investigate SPVM officers facing criminal allegations
  • Create a management track for employees based on the system used by the Secretariat of senior positions in the provincial government
  • Create an internal audit office under the control of the chief of police that would verify spending
  • Establish a steering committee to oversee police training, organization, and accountability
  • Maintain the anonymous complaints mailbox so officers can submit ideas and complaints to the chief
  • Choose a new police chief from among the two candidates already up for consideration

Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante was surprised to learn that Prud'homme considered one-third of police investigators to be undertrained.

"The one around the inspectors, the ones that are doing the inquiries don't have the proper training, that to me was shocking of course, and I'm probably not the only one. but again, here's a problem and here's a solution," said Plante.

Two candidates for chief

The two candidates for Montreal's next police chief are Line Carbonneau and Sylvain Caron.

Carbonneau was with the RCMP for 37 years and served as deputy commissioner for the federal police force. She was the first female RCMP commander in Quebce.

Caron was with the Sorel-Tracy police force for 21 years, including 15 years as police chief. He also served as the former assistant director of the SQ before joining the SPVM as head of the criminal investigations wing.

Prud'homme, who will return to his role as chief of the Sureté du Quebec next year, was hired after Chief Philippe Pichet was fired as head of the SPVM.

Pichet's term was criticized in another report, written by Michel Bouchard, that said internal affairs investigations at the SPVM were a free-for-all that frequently ignored the law.

Prud'homme's supervision of the force has not been without question. The BEI, which has the role of indepndently investigated police wrongdoing and mishaps throughout Quebec, has repeatedly criticized the Montreal police force for interfering with investigations and ignoring provincial regulations.

Martin Prud'homme's report on how to clean up the Montreal police department