Coderre stands behind chief Pichet
Mayor says four-page document calls for ‘changing a culture from the inside’
“It’s an action plan,” Mayor Denis Coderre said, in reference to Montreal police Chief Philippe Pichet’s report on how to deal with corruption in the department.
Pichet was asked by Quebec Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux on Feb. 24 to draw up a study on the topic. That study was delivered to the minister on Friday, and the two met on Saturday. Coderre said he saw the four-page report Saturday evening. On Sunday, he echoed Coiteux’s support of the police chief.
“He’s the man for the job,” the mayor said. “He doesn’t belong to any clan. He’s already worked (on the matter) from the inside. He wanted this to pass through the Public Security Commission to make sure there’s followup.”
Pichet and members of the city’s Public Security Commission will meet Wednesday to discuss the report, before it is made public on Friday at an open meeting of the Public Security Commission at which the public will get to ask questions.
Though unwilling to get into specifics, Coderre insisted he is happy with the report on many levels.
“When you’re talking about structural change and transparency, the fact that Public Security Commission can do a followup (is very good).”
Coderre highlighted the fact that ethics specialist Yves Boisvert will be assigned to the Montreal police force to assist Pichet in implementing the changes.
“There are structural realities, management realities,” Coderre said. “Obviously when you’re talking about this kind of work, you’re talking about changing a culture from the inside.”
The key to transforming that culture, Coderre said, lies in getting rid of the cliques within the force and creating a unified vision.
“It’s a matter of ethics; it’s a matter of values. It’s one of the principal values of management. If you have several silos, then you have these little leaders. You have to consolidate, and make sure everything is transparent.”
Projet Montréal councillor Alexander Norris, who sits on the city’s Public Security Commission, is happy the body will have a chance to weigh in on the report but emphasized that this should not be an unusual situation.
“These public hearings with the Public Security Commission are all too rare in Montreal,” he said. “In the past, Mayor Coderre has defended this culture of secrecy at the top of the (Montreal police). Unlike Vancouver and Toronto, we don’t have regular public hearings with the Public Security Commission, where there could be a dialogue between the public and police brass, and debate over public security issues right out in the open — because we don’t have that culture here in Montreal of public accountability.
“We have a lot of problems in our police force. I’m convinced that that lack of accountability at the top of the organization has percolated down through the organization and given us this culture that results in these warring clans and sometimes illegal actions. The vast majority of police officers in the (Montreal police) are hardworking, conscientious and devoted public servants to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. But the culture at the (Montreal police) is very unhealthy and we need to change that.”