The Montreal police department (SPVM) says its efforts to fight gun violence are working. The force reported that crimes involving firearms decreased by 11 per cent in 2022.
The force said that attempted homicides using firearms have decreased 14 per cent from the same period in 2021, and firearm discharges have decreased 13 per cent.
Homicides involving firearms, however, increased from 12 to 16 for the period between January and November.
OVER $450 MILLION ON GUN VIOLENCE
The numbers come as Montreal continues to put money into gun-control initiatives.
The City of Montreal included over $63 million to the SPVM's budget in last week's budget, bringing it to $787.1 million.
In October, Mayor Valerie Plante announced $7 million for a youth violence-prevention program.
In August, Quebec shelled out $250 million to hire 450 SPVM officers over the next five years to address gun violence. In the same month, the Montreal police created a new squad of 68 officers to combat gun violence. The federal government also chipped in, promising $42 million to prevent gun violence in the city.
In June, Quebec said it would spend over $6 million over five years to beef up US-Canada border patrols in the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) community of Akwesasne to combat gun smuggling.
In December 2021, Quebec announced a $52 million gun violence prevention program dispersed among several projects, in addition to spending $90 million to hire 107 officers in September.
HOPING FOR A CALM CHRISTMAS SEASON
The stats show that firearm crimes were higher in the first half of 2022 than a year prior, but from June onwards, the numbers dropped by 33 per cent (91 reports against 136 in 2021).
Thus, provided there is not a spike in guns crimes in December, the numbers will be lower in 2022 than they were in 2021.
