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.
3rd RÉSAL colloquium: Nearly 100 participants discussed the prevention of cyber-violence
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.
Activities offered in the fall of 2022 by the RÉSAL as part of its community of practice
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.
New activities will be planned in the spring.
ICPC participated in an episode of ”Cap sur 2030”
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.
To watch the episode (in French): https://matv.ca/montreal/mes-emissions/cap-sur-2030/comment-solidifier-le-tissu-social-a-montreal
Participation of ICPC at the City of Montreal’s event “À présent, le grand rendez-vous montréalais sur la solidarité, l’équité et l’inclusion”
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.
The ICPC met with its network in France, in Bordeaux and Lille
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.
Police-population seminar organized in collaboration with Espoir 18 in Paris
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.
Participation of ICPC in a presentation of the results of a research report on Street harassment in Montreal
On September 22, 2022, ICPC was pleased to attend the presentation of the highlights of the research report ”Le harcèlement de rue à Montréal : un portrait statistique de la pluralité des expériences, des manifestations et des contextes” (Street harassment in Montreal: a statistical portrait of the multiplicity of experiences, manifestations and contexts). These results revealed the extent of the phenomenon of street harassment in Montreal through the analysis of residents’ experiences, using an intersectional approach. Then followed recommendations addressed to various institutional actors.
This partnership research was carried out by researchers from the University du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), the Université de Montréal (Udem) and the Centre d’éducation et d’action des femmes (CÉAF), as part of UQAM’s Service aux collectivités.
To read the full report:
- Centre d’éducation et d’action des femmes website: https://www.ceaf-montreal.qc.ca/public/comite-harcelement-de-rue.html
- UQAM’s Service aux collectivités website : https://sac.uqam.ca/liste-de-publications.html
- City of Montreal Diversity and Social Inclusion Department : https://montreal.ca/unites/service-de-la-diversite-et-de-linclusion-sociale
Thank you, onece again, to the Centre d’éducation et d’action des femmes (CÉAF) for the invitation.
Practice review – Community policing policies
Youth mediation training offered by RÉSAL
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, a second training of the 2nd thematic cycle of the activities was held last May 18. This training aimed at introducing the concept of mediation and provided an opportunity for participants to become familiar with various theoretical and practical tools in order to facilitate the process.
The activity was carried out by Maxime Bonneau, clinical coordinator and trainer for PACT de rue, Déborah Griot, project coordinator, and Myriam, street worker with PACT de rue, a community organization member of RÉSAL that acts directly with youth and people in difficulty.
In addition, a clinical supervision activity following this second cycle thematic training took place on June 1st and June 22. These clinical spaces allowed participants to recall the main components of the mediation process, the prerequisites for its implementation as well as the main communication techniques that were discussed during the training and to apply them in real-life situations.
Some of the highlights from the training included:
- The importance of differentiating between the concepts of mediation, conciliation, and arbitration, as well as choosing the most appropriate option for each context. The process, the purpose and the roles of each party will differ depending on the option considered and the issue to be addressed.
- Mediation is a communicative process, in which the parties have an active and central role. The purpose of the mediation process is not necessarily linked to reaching an agreement or a decision, but rather will be discussed in the course of the exchange between the parties.
- The person taking on the role of mediator must be impartial, a good listener and act as a facilitator to encourage the parties’ introspection.
- Several communication techniques such as active listening, mirroring or positive reinforcement can be used.
- The mediation process, which itself is divided into several more or less flexible stages, benefits from preparatory meetings with each of the parties, allowing them to be informed about the process, to validate their informed consent and to be prepared for the various eventualities.
So far, the activities of this second thematic cycle “Mediation with youth” have reached 25 workers from Montreal community organizations working in the prevention of youth violence.