Anti-gang squad faces uncertain future
Montreal police worry the Groupe Éclipse tactical unit will fold if feds end funding
“These are police officers who are specialists. … It’s a very important tool that we would be losing.”
BLOC QUéBéCOIS MP MARIA MOURANI
After nearly a month of uncertainty, the Montreal police force still doesn’t know whether it will be able to keep its specialized antigang unit up and running past the beginning of next year.
In mid-November, federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews announced the Harper government was not planning to inject any new money into the Police Officer Recruitment Fund, a fiveyear program that has been the main source of funding for the Montreal-based tactical unit known as Groupe Éclipse.
As of Tuesday morning, Montreal police were still waiting for official confirmation the money will stop flowing in April 2013.
If that does happen and no new funding is secured, a spokesperson confirmed the force might have no choice but to shut down the 46-member squad.
“In my view, it would be a catastrophic loss,” said Bloc Québécois MP and scholar Maria Mourani, who has written two books on Montreal street gangs. “These are police officers who are specialists. … They have expertise that not every patrol officer would have. It’s a very important tool that we would be losing.”
The federal Police Officer Recruitment Fund was created in 2008 “to support the efforts of provinces and territories in recruiting additional front-line police officers nationwide who can target local crimes.” Of the $400 million the Harper government poured into the pot over five years, Quebec received just over $92 million, a total the provincial government then divvied up among several regions. Specialized “mixed” squads were created in Gatineau, Laval, Longueuil and Que- bec City, bringing together officers from the Sûreté du Québec, the RCMP and local municipal forces.
Montreal, meanwhile, used its $37-million share to create Groupe Éclipse, a specialized unit with a singular mission: stamp out crime related to street gangs. A year after its creation, the squad appeared to be having the desired effect. The number of gang-related murders plunged from 14 in 2007 to eight in 2008, and then five in 2009. But while it was producing results, the team also came under fire for alleged racial profiling and heavyhanded tactics such as making hundreds of arrests for simple probation violations. Approximately 400 of the 1,419 arrests carried out by Éclipse between June 2008 and October 2010 fell into that category, records show.
In 2011, under new police chief Marc Parent, Éclipse’s mandate was revised and officers began targeting specific gang members instead of entire neighbourhoods. They also redoubled their efforts to snuff out new gangs before they could establish themselves.
A total of nine homicides related to street gang activity were recorded in 2011. While the numbers for 2012 are not yet available, two high-profile incidents last summer will undoubtedly make the list. The murders of Chénier Dupuy, leader of the Bo-Gars street gang, and his business partner, Lamartine Sévère Paul, in mid-August were chalked up to an isolated conflict over territory, with police claiming the deaths did not signify a war was underway.
Still, the demise of Éclipse — if it does happen — couldn’t come at a worse time in Montreal, Mourani says.
“There is certainly a destabilization in the criminal world in general,” she explained.
“We’re seeing not only the return of biker gangs, but the return of (reputed Mafia boss) Vito Rizzuto and the reorganization of street gangs as a result.”
In a recent interview with The Gazette, organized crime expert Antonio Nicaso agreed, describing the city as “a powder keg” in the wake of Rizzuto’s recent release from a U.S. prison.
While a gangland bloodbath is certainly not imminent, Mourani says it’s critical the police force continue to receive funding to combat street gangs.
“Currently, we have other anti-gang squads that do big investigations ... but the unique thing about Éclipse is that they are mobile. A police commander could call Éclipse for two or three days to help with an investigation.
“They have developed, over five years, a deep knowledge of organized crime.”