Sixteen Montreal police officers have been suspended or reassigned over suspected coordinated racist behaviour, in a case that has shaken the city. Police officials announced the investigation at a news conference held late the previous night.
According to the city's police chief, the 16 officers allegedly committed racist and hateful acts against Black and Arab citizens during police stops. The officers are said to be from a specific station in the borough of Montreal North.
The allegations, first reported by a Radio Canada source, include disturbing details. Some officers are accused of collecting pieces of locks, sometimes called dreadlocks, that had been cut from citizens during police interventions.
The same source indicated that tickets were allegedly issued to people solely because of their ethnic background. The accounts point to conduct that appeared to go beyond isolated incidents and toward a pattern within the station.
Most of the officers involved are young men with less than five years of service, making them relatively new to the city's police force. That detail has added to concerns about the culture taking hold among newer recruits.
The police chief condemned the behaviour during the news conference, saying the officers had tarnished the force's uniform and reputation. He described himself as deeply hurt, saying he had not seen it coming at all.
The mayor of Montreal also addressed the case, urging citizens to remain calm while expressing how disturbed she was that such allegations could surface in the city. Officials noted that an internal investigation had been launched two months earlier, after colleagues at the station reported the behaviour.