Report says mixed squads of police, outreach workers aren't helping Montreal's homeless people

A new report is calling for the end of mixed squads, which pair Montreal police officers with one or more intervention workers — a social worker, health professional or other outreach worker from the regional health authority — to respond to situations involving unhoused people in public space.

The research was led by Concordia University professor Ted Rutland, funded by QPIRG-McGill and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. It was carried out in collaboration with RAPSIM, the Réseau d'aide aux personnes seules et itinérantes de Montréal, an advocacy group for people who are homeless in Montreal.

It found the squads place people experiencing homelessness under increased surveillance and are focused on removing them from public spaces than responding to their needs as unhoused people.

The mixed-service squads are "aimed at satisfying the interests of certain residents and shopkeepers who don't want to see poverty at the advantage of the needs of people in situations of homelessness," the report says.

Rutland says police presence in responding to non-violent criminal calls creates stress and unease for the people they are supposed to be trying to help.

"It pushes people away from the spaces where they have community and where they have relationships with street outreach workers who can support them," said Rutland, who studies urban security and policing.

"You can't build a relationship of confidence with an unhoused person if you're saying that you're trying to help them but you're also responding to the needs of the police, businesses and neighbourhood residents who want that person gone," said Rutland.

According to the report, this distrust sown from police presence not only interferes with the help the squads are able to provide but also hinders the work of outreach workers who are unaffiliated with police.

The report bases these findings on interviews conducted with 38 outreach workers not taking part in the mixed squads — those helping the homeless on the street and in homeless shelters — from 17 different community groups.

Isabelle Rochon-Goyer, one of the outreach workers who was interviewed in the report, says the main difference between the mixed squads and intervention workers like herself who don't work side-by-side with the police is that she is able to put the homeless first. But now, she is feeling her clientele's trust in her erode.

"Since we get confused … with the mixed squads, they don't even want to talk to us at some point," she said. "In the long run, it just creates a hostile environment on the street."

As part of its recommendations, the report recommends the creation of entirely civilian-based squads tailored to respond to non-criminal, emergency calls involving unhoused people, with a significant role for community organizations in developing them over the long haul.

The social intervention and mediation group, Équipe mobile de médiation et d'intervention sociale (ÉMMIS), one of the groups that currently respond to situations involving unhoused people and does not include police officers, is "close" but still off the mark for Rutland, who says it too needs to be dismantled.

"It's been compromised from the beginning because there wasn't any input from groups that worked with unhoused people," said Rutland, adding that ÉMMIS doesn't respond to 911 calls — as the group he wants to create should — and its corporate and city funding make it biased from the start.

Rutland said the only way to address the root causes of homelessness is to commit resources to civilian helpers who cannot use force or arrest anyone.

"We need to be funding community organizations, and housing solutions so that people aren't living in the streets to begin with," said Rutland.

The city of Montreal told CBC it believes ÉMMIS, as an all-civilian team, is effective in its interventions. "The complexity of the issues affecting vulnerable people in the public space calls for the intervention of several stakeholders with complementary expertise from the community, health network and police forces," it said in a statement.

"I find it sad because we are all here to help the same people. I think we would benefit from working with each other," says Janik Fortin, the head of partnerships and training projects related to homelessness at the Société de développement social, which has participated in mixed squads since 2020.

Fortin, who says her organization wasn't consulted for the study, says she doesn't buy that the presence of police officers hinders the efforts of community workers in helping unhoused people. 

"Users get used to it. It's not true that it breaks our ties with users," she said, adding police are finally making some of the reforms that organizations have been demanding for years. "I find this smear campaign unfortunate."

The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) told CBC that mixed squads have allowed for greater collaboration between public safety, social and community services as well as the justice system. 

"The SPVM is not in competition with community organizations. We believe that all organizations working with vulnerable clients have a role to play," the police force said in a statement. "The SPVM is always open to dialogue and to improving its practices."