Can Quebecers still count on police to serve and protect?

Public confidence in those sworn to uphold the law has taken a big hit in recent weeks

Let’s review the events of last week in Quebec law enforcement, shall we?

It began with the prosecutors staying charges against three dozen alleged Mafioso after a six-year investigation because the RCMP didn’t want to reveal in court how it intercepted their supposedly encrypted BlackBerry messages.

It ended with the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes being called in to investigate how 18-year-old Daphné Boudreault was stabbed to death, allegedly while being accompanied by a Mont-St-Hilaire police officer to retrieve her belongings from the home she’d formerly shared with her former boyfriend.

Freed mobsters and police unable to protect women who fear domestic violence — these are events that might leave Quebecers feeling a little uneasy in the best of times. But wait, there’s more.

Two weeks ago, the Sûreté du Québec failed to respond in a timely manner to 300 motorists trapped on Highway 13 overnight during a blizzard.

Two trucks blocked the highway because of the deep snow starting around 6:30 p.m. the night of March 14 and refused to be towed. The SQ, which is responsible for policing the major Montreal expressway, didn’t show up to order the trucks’ removal and it didn’t activate a plan to evacuate the stranded motorists until 4:30 a.m.

Two senior officers have been placed on desk duty pending an examination of what went wrong.

Meanwhile, the SQ is leading a multi-force investigation of a corruption scandal dogging the Montreal police force. Allegations of warring factions, abusive probes of officers by the internal affairs department, fabricated evidence and intimidation has resulted in the suspension of three senior officers.

A public inquiry will begin soon into revelations both Montreal police and the SQ spied on journalists, failing to give them the ability to protect their sources and imperilling the watchdog function of a free press in a democratic society.

But we’re still not finished. Add to this a litany of complaints about racial profiling, mainly from black men, including six Montreal police cars being called to issue a $48 ticket to a guy holding an ice cream cone for the terrible crime of daring to look too happy.

And let’s not forget another forthcoming public inquiry looking at systemic racism against indigenous people.

This was struck in the bitter aftermath of an examination of allegations First Nations women had been sexually abused by SQ officers in Val D’Or.

A special team of prosecutors determined there were no grounds to lay any charges (although two officers were charged in relation to events in faraway Schefferville decades earlier).

We can’t paint all law-enforcement agencies and officers with the same brush.

But we also can’t dismiss these disparate cases as isolated incidents. Strung together, this list paints a chilling picture of the state of public security in Quebec.

They involve several major police forces, span Quebec and touch some basic functions. Taken together, these events raise serious questions.

Without being alarmist, chief among them is whether Quebecers can count on police when they most need them.

Certainly there are many dedicated police officers who risk their lives daily to keep Quebecers safe.

These lapses no doubt test the morale of the rank and file. And in no way should they detract from the fine job individual officers are doing.

But something seems to be rotten.

Is it poor training?

A toxic culture?

A leadership vacuum?

It’s tempting to call for an inquest into what is at the root of all this — except there are probes galore going on: one force looking at another; administrative inquiries by the public security department; and those two commissions that will get the ball rolling shortly. It’s hard to keep track of them all. Perhaps what’s really needed is one independent expert to review all the findings and make recommendations for long-term reform.

Public trust is eroded each time there incidents like the abovementioned occur.

Confidence in law enforcement is essential to maintain public order. It is also crucial to the integrity of the entire justice system. Until we get some answers, Quebecers have reason to feel insecure about public security.

We also can’t dismiss these disparate cases as isolated incidents. Strung together, this list paints a chilling picture of the state of public security in Quebec.