Patrols keep watch over teens
The warm weather has arrived, which means high school students at Jean XXIII, St-Thomas and Félix-Leclerc high schools are spending their lunch hour outdoors. Groups of teenagers have been known to make the occasional bad decision. Friction can flair between groups or maybe a little mischief goes on in the alley across the street. Stuff happens.
Encouraging good behaviour during the midday break is the primary objective of a freshly minted collaboration between Montreal Police Station 5, Lester B. Pearson and Marguerite Bourgeoys school boards, public security divisions in Dorval and Pointe-Claire and parent groups.
Through to the end of this school year and again when the academic year begins in the fall, members of the school administration, public security and police will take turns patrolling school grounds and adjacent neighbourhoods during the lunch hour.
Last week, Montreal Police constables Éric Pimparé and Lisa-Marie Bridges from Station 5 were on bike patrol near École secondaire Félix-Leclerc and St-Thomas High School. The two combined, have more than 25 years experience on the force. They know what to watch for and they know every nook and cranny in the neighbourhood.
They stopped for a quick chat with Sgt. Robert Royal who was chauffeuring Station 5 Commander Marc-André Dorion, Félix-Leclerc principal Julie Lamonde and a reporter around in a police van.
Royal eyed a back pathway. “Sometimes they slip in there to smoke pot,” Royal said. “We keep an eye out for that kind of activity.”
Their mere presence has proven to act as a calming influence.
“It’s about prevention,” Dorion said. “People want a quiet neighbourhood. But we are dealing with minor incivilities, not major crimes.”
Lamonde said the awareness campaign reinforces the code of conduct each student signs at the beginning of the school year.
“They are not just students, they are also citizens,” Lamonde said.
Royal said they sometimes hear about a fight being planned between two groups. Having a patrol car, foot patrol or bike patrol in the area shuts that kind of activity down.
“Being on a bike means you can go places a police car can’t. You can ride into the parks. You are closer to the students,” Dorion said. “Your presence becomes familiar to them.”
Last Tuesday, a group of students from Félix-Leclerc gathered around a picnic table in a small park. They barely glanced at the three police officers standing a few metres away. When approached by a reporter and asked what they thought about the police presence they shrugged as teenagers have been known to do and then acknowledged it made them feel safe.
“They don’t even see us after awhile,” Royal said.
Royal oversees a team of four officers who have been doing these types of patrols, on their own, for years.
“We know who the troublemakers are and we look for gatherings that are larger than normal,” he said.
Royal took a moment to stop the van and kibbitz with students hanging out around some parked scooters. They joked and he smiled. He also reminded them about the new rules of the road coming into effect. No ear buds or cellphones when riding a bicycle or scooter.
“They aren’t surprised to see us,” Dorion said. “That’s the atmosphere we want to create.”
That said, more than a few students did double takes when they saw their principal sitting in the back seat of the police van.
“They think I’ve been arrested,” Lamonde said with a laugh. “I’ll have to make an announcement over the loudspeaker after lunch.”