That means that the job of the police is repression. Coming from one of Montreal's top brass, that's no joke. And residents of Montreal who are opposed to unchecked police violence are trying to make sure no one forgets it.
Francoeurs are written on stickers found in metro stations and on lamp-posts across the frozen metropolis -- and on the flyers that advertised Montreal's first Forum Against Police Violence and Impunity.
The Forum also came with the memory of Fredy Villanueva still fresh.
Villanueva was the immigrant youth of eighteen who, unarmed, was shot dead by Montreal policeman Jean-Loup Lapointe in August 2008.
His shooting caused outrage among residents of Montreal-North, a poor neighbourhood populated heavily by immigrants. Rioting continued for days after Villanueva's death, recalling the unrest that exploded in the ghettos of Paris in October 2005.
Observers have criticized the ongoing inquest into Villanueva's death, calling in marred by bias, as the police are tasked with investigating their collegues.
Activists opposed to police brutailty are saying that the Montrepolice have become de facto street judges, with the power to convict and execute their suspects.
Such concerns were the impetus for the Forum Against Police Violence and Impunity, a weekend long event that took place at the end of January this year, in the immigrant neighbourhood of Park Extension.
CKUT was there.
David and Candice
Montreal activists are saying that the police have become de facto street judges, with the power to convict and execute their suspects on sight without ever having to answer to anyone.
In an effort to build solidarity between people dealing with -- and organizing against -- police violence, social justice activists recently held Montreal's first-ever Forum Against Police Violence and Impunity.
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