Quebec police chiefs have vowed to respond quickly and strongly to organized crime in the aftermath of a merciless murder committed in front of young children in Laval.
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“If you think that you can go into a restaurant and kill a person in front of children, in front of people seated in the restaurant, and that there will be no consequence, you are wrong”, launched today Pierre Brochet , President of the Association of Quebec Police Directors (ADPQ) and Chief of Police of Laval.
The latter thus warned that the police will tighten the screw, recalling that with the resources of the CENTAUR project - which aims to stem the proliferation of firearms in the province - already more than 200 individuals have been arrested and nearly 300 weapons fire were seized.
Shocking, unacceptable
“This type of behavior is shocking, unacceptable and intolerable […]. There will be repercussions over the next few days,” he insisted, at the end of the colloquium of police directors in Rivière-du-Loup, specifying that the police will move forward with different strategies provided for in the CENTAUR operation.
The police also grabbed seven 3D printers and dismantled five weapons manufacturing sites, he also detailed.
The issue is that 94% of firearms come from the United States.
"The black market in firearms is difficult to stop, and add to that the culture where more and more young people are going to equip themselves with weapons [...] We must work on the trafficking of firearms, but also make sure to have exemplary [prison] sentences so that the word gets out in the field,” explained Director Brochet.
Mental health issue
At a press conference, Pierre Brochet also expressed his concerns about the mental health of police officers, calling for a uniform and provincial program to offer psychological support adapted to their reality.
"It's about 250 traumatic events that a police officer will encounter throughout a career. We are constantly confronted with difficulties, human distress, accidents. It’s not an easy job,” he commented.
He specifies that in Quebec, the rate of police officers affected by a traumatic event varies between 32 and 50%.
"Police work is more and more complex, we must take care of those who ensure the safety of our citizens," he said, recalling that we have had to deplore the suicide of police officers in recent years. years.
