MONTREAL -- Montreal police are putting together a new specialized squad to fight gun crime.
The new squad will have 20 officers working for it, seconded from the homicide and organized crime divisions of the Service de Police de la Ville de Montreal.
The announcement of the new squad comes on the heels of four separate shootings in Montreal over the past 48 hours.
The new squad was created even though gun crime isn't up in Montreal - in fact, it's down so far in 2019. (Durocher said it was down 10 per cent so far this year; for comparison's sake, gun crime in Toronto is up 30 per cent in 2019)
"Overall, if we look at the statistics, there are less shootings in Montreal than there were last year and the year before," SPVM Inspector Andre Durocher told CTV News.
"However given the nature of the type of shootings we have had and also how close they are, one to the other, this is having a major impact on the feeling of security for the citizens."
Durocher said the SPVM wanted to be pro-active in preventing the gun violence situation in Montreal from deteriorating.
"Concerning (shooting suspects') modus operandi, the way they operate with total disregard for the safety of innocent bystanders, we're not going to wait until a tragedy happens in order to do something."
Montreal police also want to send a message to Montreal criminals that illegal guns are unacceptable and they want to remove as many of them from the streets as possible, Durocher said, as well as learn more about where guns used in crime in Montreal are coming from.
- With reporting from Rob Lurie of CTV News Montreal
