The Montreal police have confirmed a report that one of its assistants to police chief Philippe Pichet has been relieved of his duties.
The assistant chief is Bernard Lamothe. When asked if Lamothe was fired, a police spokesperson would only say that he had been “relieved of his duties,” but would not elaborate.
This comes following serious allegations concerning the Montreal police internal affairs division. Last week, three former Montreal police investigators were interviewed by TVA and alleged that the internal affairs division fabricated evidence in an effort to discredit their efforts to act as whistleblowers.
Pichet asked the Sûreté du Québec to investigate the allegations after the interviews were aired. But on Friday, Public Security Minister Martin Coiteux announced he would expand the investigation to include investigators from the RCMP and other police forces and that it will be co-directed by SQ assistant director general Yves Morency and Madeleine Giauque, the head of the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), an independent police-oversight agency.
Coiteux also ordered a separate administrative probe into the force.
Earlier this week, Pichet announced that all Montreal police internal affairs investigations would be turned over to the SQ.
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