The Montreal Police Department has developed an action plan to promote equity, diversity and inclusion and combat racism and discrimination.
The police said their goal is not only to rebuild the public's trust, but also to create an inclusive work environment for employees. Their plan includes several measures that have been taken, such as training members to understand the concepts of equity, diversity and inclusion, and how to prevent Racial profiling and discrimination.
During a public presentation of the plan at Montreal City Hall, Police Chief Fady Dagher said they are also setting up committees of experts from various communities to target certain issues.
They said there are still eight issues that need to be addressed. One of them is to revise the police department's street check policy. This is something that some community groups have called for after some police officers were accused of racial profiling. In March alone, two police officers were suspended for more than a month without pay for racial profiling.
Under the plan, they also hope to establish internal support networks for at-risk groups within the department, such as a gender and sexual diversity committee, a support group for black and African American employees, and a network of Arabic-speaking officers and civilians.
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Dagel stressed that changing the root causes of discrimination will not happen overnight.
“Don't get me wrong, these are not going to produce results quickly,” Dagel told reporters after his speech.
“It’s going to take many years, but it’s going to happen because we’re attacking from the bottom — we’re addressing the root problems.”
Some community groups said the action plan was a step in the right direction but noted there was still work to be done.
The police chief said a revised street check policy will be introduced this fall.
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