Montreal police fire seven employees over racist conduct allegations
Two employees were dismissed from Station 21 and five from Station 39, while criminal probes continue and more announcements are expected in November.
Seven Montreal police employees were dismissed on Monday over allegations of racist and discriminatory behavior, Anadolu reported, citing CBC News.
Montreal Police Chief Fady Dagher announced the administrative dismissals at a press conference, saying two of the employees worked at Station 21 and five at Station 39.
The dismissals followed an internal disciplinary inquiry, while separate criminal investigations remain open.
Decisions on charges rest with Crown prosecutors, Dagher said.
He said gathering evidence is a lengthy process and that the force will not tolerate conduct that harms its reputation.
Station 39, located in the Montreal-Nord district, has been the focus of a racism controversy since June, when Dagher disclosed that 16 officers were under investigation over alleged hateful acts against Black and Arab people during police stops.
Station 21, which covers parts of downtown Montreal, drew scrutiny last month after Quebec's domestic security minister ordered two separate investigations into an officer accused of urinating on homeless people while in uniform.
The broadcaster also reported that another officer from Station 21 was suspended over alleged humiliating conduct toward racialized people.
Dagher conceded that public confidence in the force has declined significantly, but he said he believes it can be rebuilt.
Asked why the officers were not dismissed sooner, Dagher said investigators also wanted to examine possible accomplices, a process that takes time, and acknowledged that victims have waited too long.
He said the service has revised its recruitment, training, promotion and internal investigation procedures and added tools that let officers report colleagues for misconduct.
Dagher pledged a tough response toward the roughly 1% of officers who deliberately undermine the force's image.
Separately, Quebec's prosecution service is reportedly investigating an officer accused of deleting evidence from a domestic violence victim's phone in 2025, Radio-Canada sources said.
Dagher said more announcements are expected in the coming weeks, with further information due in November.
The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, known as SPVM, is the city's police force and has faced repeated scrutiny over its treatment of racialized residents.
Under Quebec's system, prosecutors rather than police decide whether criminal charges are laid against officers.