Quebec’s public security minister asked the public for “a bit of patience” on Friday as a fresh set of allegations rattled the already battered reputation of the Montreal police department.
“We’re not going to make hasty decisions based on what we read in the morning newspaper,” Martin Coiteux told reporters at a press conference in Montreal, adding that he intends to name a commissioner to look into the daily operations of the Montreal force “very soon.”
Coiteux’s call for patience comes a day after a Superior Court judge allowed news outlets to listen to the contents of police surveillance recordings made in 2015 in the office of then criminal lawyer Loris Cavaliere. During the recorded conversation, the lawyer asks a member of the Mafia whether he’s worried by an ongoing investigation by the Montreal police Internal Affairs Division into an officer with links to organized crime.
The mafioso then replies: “No. That’s what we pay them to do.”
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Last week, Coiteux announced he had asked police investigators from Quebec City, Gatineau, Longueuil and the RCMP to examine complaints over the workings of Montreal’s Internal Affairs Division. That announcement followed allegations made earlier that week by two former Montreal police inspectors that they had been ousted from the force after complaining about corruption in the department.
Coiteux repeated Friday that all the allegations made thus far against the Montreal force were taken “seriously.”
Earlier this week, Montreal police chief Philippe Pichet told his department that all internal affairs investigations on his force would now be handled by the Sûreté du Québec.
