Montreal police extend helping hand to Haitian neighbourhoods

Montreal's police's department is deploying officers and civilian employees with experience in Haiti to help Haitian Montrealers in the wake of a devastating earthquake last week in their native country.

The department is putting them to work in neighbourhoods with large Haitian populations, Mario Plante, the department's assistant director, said.

The police department is calling this re-deployment Operation Koudmen. Koudmen is a Creole word for coup de main, or helping hand.

As many as 70 officers and civilian employees who have a linguistic or cultural connection to Haiti are taking part in the operation.

Plante said they will set up in neighbourhoods such as Saint Michel and Montreal North.

The workers will be an extra shoulder for Haitian Montrealers to lean on, he said, and this is just as much a part of police work as catching criminals.

"They're going to churches, they're going to different places to assist them, to listen to them, to listen to their preoccupations," Plante said.

Const. André Belotte, one of the officers who volunteered to be re-assigned, said it was an obvious decision for him.

"Being of Haitian origin, it's only normal - it's a natural thing. Without thinking about it, we're the first ones to step up," he said.

Belotte, who usually works in the Côte Saint-Luc police department, said the people have reacted well to the police initiative.

"It's been really positive. People understand that we're not just police officers, we're from the same community and people are really happy to see us when we show up," he said. "So, we're really glad to be there to help out in any way, shape or form that we can."  

The officers will stay in the neighbourhoods as long as they're needed, Plante said.

No officers to Haiti

Belotte said he's ready to fly to Haiti to help in the relief effort, if and when that should happen. But, until then, he said this is his way of helping out.

Plante said the Montreal police force will not be sending any more officers to Haiti to help in the policing effort because the federal government is taking the lead role in offering aid.

"Forty more police officers were ready to go, they were packed and everything was ready. But the federal government decided not to send police officers. I think the mission will be changing over the last few days; it will become a military mission," he said.

There were already 42 Montreal police officers in Haiti when the earthquake hit, Plante said. They are all safe, he said, and will continue their work there.

On Sunday,  Defence Minister Peter MacKay annnounced that an additional 1,000 Canadian Forces personnel will fly to Haiti to help with earthquake relief efforts.