Montreal's Metro is getting tighter security, raising questions about access to public spaces

Montreal's Metro system will have more police officers and security staff to deal with safety concerns in the next few months, but advocates for people who are homeless say they fear it will affect the city's most vulnerable.

As of next month, 20 new special constables will be added, for a total of 200 constables. Safety ambassadors will also be in Metro stations, with eight starting in December and another eight at a later date. Eight workers from the Équipe mobile de médiation et d'intervention sociale (EMMIS) — a team of intervention workers who patrol the city's streets — will also be added in January.

This is in addition to the 20 special constables who started this fall.

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and Montreal police say a big shakeup is necessary because of rising concerns about safety by riders.

Police officers who are part of the Metro's security force will focus on crime prevention and investigations, said STM security director Jocelyn Latulippe.

"We won't call the police for social issues," he said.

"We won't call the police for issues related to insecurity or incivility, where special constables can do the job, or where safety ambassadors can provide a good feeling of security in some areas, without asking police officers to stay there, and then not being elsewhere where they may be required," he said.

Emergency calls will be answered by 16 local police stations close to Metro stations in an effort to promote efficiency and optimize response times.

The changes come as both police and the STM say they're dealing with a different reality in the Metro since the pandemic, with more vulnerable people present in the network, like those experiencing homelessness and drug abuse issues.

Access to public space

Catherine Marcoux, a community organizer with the Réseau d'aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal (RAPSIM) — an organization working with unhoused people — says more staff focusing on security could further marginalize people.

"The more surveillance there is, the more people are displaced," she said.

"It's a type of violence, also, to be always watched; to be always asked to move; to not have a place to keep warm. For us, it's just another mechanism to surveil people who are already vulnerable, who have nowhere else to go."

She says that with winter approaching, it's common for unhoused people to shelter in Metro stations as they are one of the few free, warm public places they can go.

"Who has access to public space?" she asked rhetorically.

A better solution would be to give more resources toward poverty reduction efforts, shelters and outreach workers who already have links with people, said Marcoux.

At city hall, opposition politicians say they are glad the STM and police are talking about the sense of safety in the Metro, but they are skeptical of the restructuring plan.

"The new ambassadors unfortunately lack the powers and tools needed to intervene when situations get out of hand," said Abdelhaq Sari, the Official Opposition critic for public safety.