Racialized communities share stories of grief and loss with Montreal police chief

At a church in Little Burgundy Friday night, crime victims from Montreal's Black and racialized communities gathered to share their stories with city officials -- including the new police chief, Fady Dagher.

Taking turns at the mic, community members spoke of grief and loss.

"I see so many faces of people that have actually experienced violence, people that are actually grieving because of violence," author and speaker Svens N. Telemaque told the crowd. "I see so many community workers that I feel like [are] saturated with that same amount of pain in this very moment."

Before the event was over, families surrounded Dagher with photos of loved ones taken too soon, many suspected to be at the hands of police.

The SPVM chief stepped to the mic and promised to do more, reiterating his promise to recruit more people of colour onto the force and policing with a community-based approach.

"The best weapon I'm going to be asking those candidates to have is not the weapon on the belt, it's the weapon on the mouth," said Dagher, who is Lebanese and the first person of colour to lead the SPVM.

He also addressed the issue of racial profiling, which he has previously acknowledged as an "insidious" problem within the Montreal police force.

"We don't deny it. We have to recognize it. So we don't deny racial profiling and the need for better responses to mental health," he said Friday night.

Last week, the SPVM was accused of withholding the findings of an independent report on racial profiling. The force responded that the report is still in progress and will be released to the public in the coming months.

Friday's event, organized by the Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations (CRARR), was meant to give a voice to crime victims and build bridges between those sworn to protect them.

"It's not just about words and slogans," said CRARR director Fo Niemi. "What we're doing tonight is we want to show concretely to the community that yes, you can meet the police chief, you and share, and we're all humans in this city."