The ICPC took an active part in the second edition of the Colloque Urbanité et jeunes marginalisés : de la confrontation à la bienveillance, held on May 24, 2023 in Montréal-Nord and attended by nearly 200 people. The event, jointly organized by Café-Jeunesse Multiculturel and the University of Ottawa’s Centre for Research on Community and Educational Services, aimed to bring together social, institutional and academic players to debate and exchange views on the challenges and opportunities of caring for marginalized youth.
The day kicked off with a series of conferences addressing issues such as the “non-recourse” to rights and services, the representation of deviance and delinquency among girls, as well as armed violence and political perspectives among young people. The second part of the event focused on initiatives and solutions put in place to meet the needs of young people in difficulty. Various presentations were given, including on citizen initiative incubators, community mental health clinics and understanding the causes and forms of youth violence.
The day ended with a plenary session, where ICPC members had the opportunity to network with other participants. The meeting established valuable links with other organizations and strengthened collaborations to better care for marginalized youth and promote their well-being within the community.
The first session of the 2023 Inter-American Community of Crime Observatories, Department of Public Security of the Organization of American States, was held on April 26. The ICPC was represented at the event by Oscar Figueroa, the organization’s Latin American consultant.
The session focused on the transfer of prevention and security models between two municipalities in the region, and the important role played by Observatories in the design, implementation, and monitoring of projects. Representatives from the municipality of Peñalolén (Chile) and the municipality of Nezahualcóyotl (Mexico) shared their respective models of rights promotion and social prevention, as well as their model of social proximity, and also shared the lessons learned from the exchange and transfers carried out. Security experts emphasized the importance of collaboration and communication between crime observatories to achieve effective security solutions.
As part of its ongoing commitment to public safety, the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (ICPC) is proud to announce its participation in the Municipal Crime Prevention Support Program project for a fourth consecutive year. This initiative, supported by the provincial government, aims to strengthen community safety and prevent crime through a variety of preventive measures. This year, ICPC has been specifically mandated to support the municipalities of Blainville, L’Ancienne-Lorette, the Portneuf MRC, Notre-Dame-de-Ham, Sainte-Brigitte-de-Laval, Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac and Brandon in their crime prevention efforts.
The purpose of this program is to provide funding to municipal organizations, including aboriginal organizations, with populations of less than 100,000, to enable them to design and implement preventive actions tailored to the crime and safety issues that concern them.
As part of the MSP’s crime prevention mandate, the ICPC has been mandated to support these municipalities in implementing a structured approach to prevention planning.
On February 21st, 2023, the ICPC met with the Association of Police Directors of Quebec (ADPQ) to present its ongoing projects and services. The meeting provided an opportunity to explore possibilities for collaboration in order to expand the range of services offered and support municipalities in Quebec, as well as to work with a greater number of police services in the province’s urban centers. The meeting strengthened the relationship between the ICPC and the ADPQ, and opened up new avenues for collaboration to better meet the security needs of the population.
On Wednesday, February 15, about a hundred people participated of the Réseau d’échange et de soutien aux actions locales (RÉSAL), of which the ICPC is a coordinating member. The colloquium, which took place at the Centre St-Pierre, in Montreal, focused on the prevention of cyber-violence. The day was filled with engaging meetings, discussions, workshops and “braindates”.
The event began with opening remarks from Roselyne Mavungu, Director General of the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence (CPRLV), who highlighted the critical need for organizations and institutions to collaborate and work together in preventing cyber-violence, particularly among young people. Pier Alexandre Lemaire, Urban Safety Advisor for the City of Montreal’s Diversity and Social Inclusion Department, followed with an overview of RÉSAL’s past activities, emphasizing the importance of networking and the value of face-to-face interactions after three years of primarily online engagement.
Khaoula El Kahlil, Research Advisor at the CPRLV, moderated the first panel of the day, on ”Crossed views on cyber-violence”, and featured experts from various fields. Detective Sergeant, Maya Alieh, of the Montreal Police Department (SPVM) gave a presentation on key considerations to keep in mind regarding cyber investigations and how to intervene when faced with incidents of cyber violence on social networks. Stéphane Villeneuve, professor and director of the program in digital integration in the school environment at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), presented research on cyberbullying in the school environment as well as a means to better understand and prevent these situations, i.e. a training program offered to Quebec teachers. Dominique Gagné and Dave Poitras, scientific advisors from the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ), concluded the panel with a presentation on findings and proposed solutions to prevent cyber-violence in relationships
After the first panel, both panelists and participants were divided into different groups to delve deeper into current issues and best practices for preventing cyber-violence. These discussions were organized by the event’s partner, Braindate, allowing participants to share their experiences and insights with each other.
The afternoon was divided into four workshops: The first workshop, facilitated by Jeanne Plisson, Community Support Coordinator, and Sarah Grenier, Community Support Advisor, at the CPRLV, addressed ”online hate speech”. In this workshop, participants learned about definitions of hate speech, the different possible forms that hate can take and the prevailing motives for it to occur. They also presented different tools used to prevent and respond to hate speech incidents, primarily in schools.
The second workshop offered, led by Akim Laniel-Lanani, co-founder of the Clinique de cyber-criminologie at the School of Criminology at the Université de Montréal (UdeM), focused on “cyber-hygiene”. Akim presented an overview of the use of social networks by youth before discussing useful tools and resources available to promote healthy online habits.
UdeM criminology professor Isabelle Ouellet-Morin led a third workshop that provided participants with an opportunity to learn more about the research that led to the creation of the “+Fort” mobile application. This app, a collaboration of several Quebec researchers created by the Axel Centre, aims to help youth and school professionals combat and overcome harassment and cyberstalking.
The fourth workshop of the day, “Getting Connected to Equality”, was led by Léna Gauthier-Paquette, support officer for the sexuality education program of L’Anonyme. The workshop focused on a project that aims to equip youth aged 12 to 25 to develop egalitarian, safe and consensual relationships by initiating a reflection on the sharing of real and virtual public space between genders. This activity allowed participants to understand the manifestations of stereotypes, power dynamics and sexism online through an overview based on the organization’s research. The day concluded with exchanges between participants and closing remarks from the CPRLV.
Please note that proceedings of the conference will soon be published online.
As part of the development of the community of practice of the Réseau d’échange et de soutien aux actions locales (RÉSAL), of which the ICPC is a member and coordinator, two cycles of theme-based activities were held in the fall of 2022.
The RÉSAL community of practice includes practitioners, community organizations and institutions that work with youth in Montreal.
Two series of training sessions were held and reached nearly 70 participants.
Street harassment and ordinary violence prevention, conducted by Audrey Simard from the Centre d’éducation et d’action des femmes and Marie-Ève Desroches from the Table des groupes de femmes de Montréal.
The training and clinical supervision activities of this theme series helped define street harassment, its concrete manifestations, and its impacts, particularly on young cisgender and trans women. The presenters provided concrete tools and strategies for dealing with this violence as victims, active witnesses, or recipients of disclosure. On the other hand, they led the participants to reflect on the ways in which community organizations and institutions such as the City of Montreal, the Société de transport de Montréal or schools can play a proactive role in the fight against street harassment and support victims.
Some of the highlights:
Street harassment includes physical, sexual, verbal, and psychological violence. It is important not to rank acts of street harassment in order of importance, as their impact depends on the experiences and traumas of the victims.
Street harassment isn’t more frequent at night than during the day, on the contrary, it mostly occurs during rush hour. Therefore, there is a difference between the perception of safety and actual safety.
Violence prevention at school, conducted by Éric Morissette professor from the University of Montreal.
Some of the highlights:
Violence in schools is common. According to studies, it is estimated that more than one-third of Quebec students experience at least one incident of verbal or physical violence at school or on the way to school.
In order to prevent violence, it is essential to conceive intervention in the school environment within an integrative model targeting various levels of intervention and the entire school environment.
With the significant increase in armed violence in Montreal, which has been a major issue for several years, a question has been raised: How can we strengthen the social fabric in Montreal? Panelists invited to a special segment on the program Cap sur 2030, in which the ICPC was invited to participate, attempted to answer this question.
Michelle Côté, Director of Research at ICPC, discussed the topic with Ted Rutland, Associate Professor of Geography with a focus on municipal policy, urban planning, and urban safety in Canada, affiliated with Concordia University and a member of the Anti-Carceral Group; Louis Audet-Gosselin, Scientific and Strategic Director of the Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence; and Malika Saher, lawyer and Senior Mediator at the Dr. Julien Foundation. Together, they suggested solutions to preserve and strengthen social ties in Montreal in the coming years.
Cap sur 2030 is a program on MATV that brings together a number of experts and professionals in the field to discuss inspiring and innovative ideas for building the future of Montreal for the benefit of the community and its citizens.
On October 18, 2022, ICPC had the pleasure of attending the event À présent, le grand rendez-vous montréalais sur la solidarité, l’équité et l’inclusion, organized by the City of Montreal, as part of the deployment of its Solidarity, Equity and Inclusion Action Plan 2021-2025. It was an opportunity for the city to present its five major action areas for the future, the successes of the participating organizations, and to look at the objectives to be reached in the coming years.
Thank you to the City of Montreal for the invitation.
After its visit in May, the ICPC was back in Europe for a mission. During the month of October, Director General, Ann Champoux, met with several members, partners and new collaborators to discuss opportunities for collaboration in crime prevention.
Meetings at Bordeaux City Hall
Following the visit of Amine Smihi, Deputy Mayor of Bordeaux, in September to the ICPC office in Montreal, it was the ICPC’s turn to visit Bordeaux. As part of her mission in France, Ann Champoux met with Amine Smihi to discuss opportunities for collaboration in crime prevention.
The ICPC was welcomed at the Bordeaux City Hall to meet with Mr. François Mesure, Director General of the Bordeaux City Hall and Ms. Eléonore Becat, Deputy Director and Head of the Bordeaux CLSPD.
In the afternoon, the Director General took part in a visit of the Urban Supervision Center (CSU) where she was able to talk with Mr. Laurent Lapegue, Director of the Municipal Police and Public Tranquillity. They were able to discuss issues related to urban security and the feeling of insecurity of citizens.
Participation in the ethical committee of video protection – Bordeaux City Hall
At the end of the day, ICPC had the chance to attend and take part in the ethical committee of video protection at the town hall, in the presence of the Mayor and Mr Smihi.
Assises de la sécurité des territoires, October 12-13, in Lille
The Director General of ICPC, Ann Champoux, attended the meeting of the security of the territories in Lille. The French Forum for Urban Security (FFSU) presented an updated version of the White Paper for territorial security integrating all the new recommendations and practices of local actors.
Also, a presentation of the prevention-security devices in Lille and a national meeting of prevention-security directors and coordinators were on the program.
We would like to thank all our collaborators for their welcome and these profitable exchanges.
On October 11th and 12th, a seminar on improving communication between police and the public took place in Paris. The event was organized through a partnership between ICPC and the Parisian organization Espoir 18. The objective of this seminar was to present successful initiatives undertaken internationally on constructive dialogue between law enforcement and community members, through round tables, an audience of academics, police officers, and civil society stakeholders.
Since 2019, ICPC and Espoir 18 have been collaborating on a project on improving police-population dialogue, with a particular emphasis on the young public and minority groups in their relationship with the police institution. This partnership is therefore part of a research on ways to improve this type of dialogue, to document innovative experiences and practices at the international level and to promote knowledge transfer. This year, several activities were carried out as part of this collaboration: a review of international good practices was co-authored, ICPC hosted the Espoir 18 team in Montreal as part of its North American theatre tour, and this seminar which took place in October.
The seminar included :
The presentation of the practice review “Improving Police-Population Dialogue: An Introduction to International Issues and Practices” produced by ICPC and Espoir 18, with the support of the Open Society Foundations;
The presentation of successful national (in France) and international initiatives along with round table discussions;
The screening and debate of a documentary made by the young of Espoir 18 on racial profiling;
Stories of young people, families, and police officers on the relationship between the police and the population;
An evening debate on possible solutions to improve the police-population dialogue and a future action plan to be put in place.
The development of an action plan for the period 2023 to 2025 based on the exchanges and lessons learned from the seminar will be produced for the next phase of this collaboration.
