Former chief re-assigned to manage city security guard corps

Two months after being suspended from his duties with pay, former Montreal police chief Philippe Pichet has been re-assigned to help oversee the city’s security guards.

“He is still under contract with the city of Montreal for another two-and-a-half years, so the position was offered to him and he accepted it,” Nathalie Goulet, the executive committee member responsible for public security, said Wednesday. “It’s a mutually beneficial situation,” she said.

Pichet, who was named by then-mayor Denis Coderre to head the force in 2015, was suspended with pay last December by Quebec Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux in the wake of a devastating internal report that found the department was divided and in a state of organizational disarray.

Goulet confirmed that Pichet met with city manager Alain Marcoux on Tuesday and agreed to take the position.

She said that the new position was created for Pichet, a situation she said was better than having him stay at home while receiving his salary.

He will work under Marie Claude Lavoie, the director of real-estate management and planning, she said.

Pichet will continue to receive the same salary he was paid as police director, she said.

He will help supervise blue-collar workers employed as security guards in city buildings, said Goulet, who did not know how many employees Pichet would be in charge of.

The city also uses some security guards from private companies.

Alexander Norris, an associate city councillor responsible for public security, said getting Pichet back to work means his talents and salary won’t be wasted.

“It’s certain that after the report of (SPVM internal affairs investigator Michel) Bouchard, it was determined that it was inconceivable that he would remain as director of the SPVM,” he said.

“This new assignment allows us to find a role that is in keeping with his abilities as a manager, and we are happy he accepted it,” Norris said.

On Tuesday, interim Montreal police director Martin Prud’homme said he will explain the changes he plans to bring to the force at a public meeting at city hall on Feb. 27.

Prud’homme, who heads the Sûreté du Québec, took over the SPVM in December.

He was appointed after Coiteux suspended Pichet, following a damning report that criticized the force’s internal affairs division.

Among other things, the report revealed that criminal allegations against SPVM officers weren’t investigated. It also showed that several investigations were botched, with significant evidence being removed from reports to keep officers from being charged or from facing disciplinary action.