Author: The Equity
Published December 11, 2024

K.C. Jordan, LJI Journalist

The MRC Pontiac’s public security committee released its year-end review of the Sûreté du Québec’s (SQ) activities on the territory, revealing statistics on crime, collisions and 9-1-1 calls, to name but a few of the data types tracked.

This annual report highlights the SQ’s involvement in the community as well as statistics for the 2023-24 financial period from Apr. 2023 to Mar. 2024.

Before the year began, the public security committee, which is made up of mayors and SQ officers, identified two priorities for the service on the MRC Pontiac territory: increasing security on the roads as well as reducing general crime.

Captain Mélanie Larouche, who is responsible for overseeing stations in Campbell’s Bay, Maniwaki and Mont-Laurier, said in an emailed statement to THE EQUITY that her organization was successful in addressing those priorities, noting the county saw a reduction in collisions and general crime.

“Each year, our objective is always to improve our citizens’ ability to feel safe, to improve safety on the roads and to diminish crime in general,” she said.

The county saw a total of 259 vehicle collisions in 2023-2024, down from 315 the previous year. This total included two fatal collisions and two collisions resulting in serious injury. Larouche said this decrease could be due to a number of factors.

“The weather, the state of the roads, the mechanical state of vehicles on the roads, and the police presence all play a role.”

The 239 personal crimes committed this year represents an 11 per cent decrease in the category, which includes sexual assaults, general assaults, and thefts, but this year’s number is still higher than the five-year average of 219.

At 181 instances of property crime in the 2023-2024 year, the rate stayed more or less consistent with the five-year average.

The MRC saw an increase in 9-1-1 calls for the fourth consecutive year, and this year’s 3,291 calls represents an eight per cent increase over the year prior.

It’s a trend Larouche explained is happening across the province.

“We believe this is, among other reasons, due to the fact that the people who are calling are more comfortable reporting situations because they trust their police service,” she said.

The SQ made 1,555 road stops last year, down from 2,442 the year prior, a difference Larouche attributes to a number of different reasons.

“There could be several explanations, but we have a constant increase in calls, heavier cases, and interventions that require more time,” she said, noting they issued 429 fewer warnings this year than the year prior.

“These warnings are often related to minor infractions for which officers can choose to issue a warning, such as for not having one’s driver’s licence or registration in the car, or for a minor mechanical issue like a burnt-out light, but these warnings are not necessary.”

Larouche said the SQ’s greatest successes in the MRC Pontiac this year included community presence and general safety.

“We were extremely present in schools, we were involved in the community (Christmas baskets). Road safety improved in terms of number of collisions. We are planning our operations to improve road safety, and our presence is bearing fruit,” she said, noting she wants to improve the service’s community reach going forward.

“We want to continue partnering with the population, elected officials, increase operations with our road stops, schools, Bouffe Pontiac, etc, in order to respond to the needs of citizens, to become closer with them and constantly strive to improve the public’s ability to feel safe.”

Alain Gagnon, chair of the MRC’s public security committee and mayor of Bryson, said it is going to request that the SQ get four cadets next summer instead of its current contingent of two.

“Everybody is really happy for the work those cadets did,” he said, adding that they are helping to improve the SQ’s presence on the ground and to forge ties with the community.

“They don’t do any patrol, they can’t arrest anybody, but they are our eyes and ears on any site [ . . . ] It’s more a public relations thing with them.”

Gagnon, who worked for the SQ for over 20 years, said there are some unique challenges to policing a large territory such as the Pontiac, especially when resources are running thin.

“If you’re in Montreal, Gatineau or any city, you’ll have a cruiser that’s 10 streets from you. If you’re in the Pontiac, you’re one car with two police officers, and you could be alone [if you call the police for help],” he said, adding that the more police cars that are on the road, the more municipalities have to pay for policing.

“It would be nice to have two, three, four, five cars on the road, but of course the bill comes with it,” he said.

He said with the holiday season coming up, people should be especially careful about drinking and driving, and should call someone to pick them up instead of driving home.

“It’s always better to call somebody … while being arrested is not a fun thing, having an accident or if somebody is injured, that’s even worse.”

The committee’s priorities for the upcoming year have not been chosen yet, but will be discussed early in the new year.

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