Montreal authorities are preparing for the October 7 protests

The Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) is standing ready on the eve of October 7, the date which will mark the first year since the deadly Hamas attack against Israel.

During a press briefing on Friday, the head of the Organizational Services Directorate of the City of Montreal Police Service (SPVM), Vincent Richer, explained that several additional police officers are currently deployed in the metropolis until the end of the month.

As October 7 approaches, the SPVM is aware that events in the Middle East as well as the various demonstration activities planned in Montreal in the coming days have an impact on the feeling of security of the population and, more particularly, on members of the Jewish and Arab community. Muslim.

The police officer says he expects large-scale demonstrations on Monday and adds that counter-demonstrations are possible. In addition to visible police officers, other personnel will be ready to intervene to control the crowd if necessary.

During the same press briefing on Friday, the chief inspector within the Directorate of Community Services, Mohamed Bouhdid, indicated that 345 demonstrations linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have taken place in Montreal since October 7 and that 100 arrests were made.

A few days before October 7, pro-Palestinian demonstrations have already taken place in Montreal on Saturday, like many other cities around the world. The first rallies have taken place peacefully so far.

How do police officers prepare?

In interview at HERE RDIformer deputy director general of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) Marcel Savard lifted the curtain on how police officers prepare for demonstrations.

According to him, the police are currently working to collect information by monitoring social media and speaking with certain sources. Physical or electronic surveillance of certain people could also be carried out.

One of the objectives of this preparation work is to try to determine whether certain problem groups plan to infiltrate the demonstrations. Discreet at first, the members of these groups can eventually take control of an otherwise peaceful crowd and cause trouble, according to the former police officer.

Even if Saturday’s demonstration in Montreal took place peacefully, he explains that there is always a risk of excesses when a mass of people move, as could be the case on Monday.

The situation is the same across the worldhe indicates. We try to minimize the role of rioters or people who want to cause problems in the demonstrations.

With this in mind, undercover agents will interfere among the demonstrators, in addition to visible police officers who will supervise the demonstration. These eyes from the insideas Marcel Savard describes them, can make it possible to target certain individuals who call for violence. Once these individuals are identified, they can be isolated and removed to prevent escalation.

Despite all the measures taken, the former member of the SQ reminds that the police, their basic premise is to allow demonstrationsbut that they also want to ensure calm there.

On alert at McGill and in places of worship

University campuses have often been the scene of protests related to this conflict over the past year. McGill University therefore implemented its own security measures until the end of the day Monday. Access to campus will be restricted to current students and staff as well as essential visitorsespecially delivery people.

In addition, courses that can be taught online will be, while staff members whose presence on campus is not essential are invited by the management of the establishment to work from home.

Marcel Savard indicates that even if private agents manage the security of university establishments like McGill University, police officers will be located near campuses, ready to intervene if criminal acts are committed.

Security has also been strengthened at Jewish and Muslim places of worship. During this holiday season in the Hebrew calendar, Jewish religious establishments usually have an open door policy. The faithful could, however, be greeted by security agents and cameras this year. THE CEO of the Jewish advocacy group Federation CJA, Yair Szlak, indicates for example that he spent more than $354,000 to strengthen security.

While the 288 hate crimes and incidents committed against the Jewish and Arab-Muslim communities over the past year represent a sharp increase compared to the average, the trend in recent months has been downward. Over the past three months, there have been 27 such incidents, a drop from the months following the Hamas attack almost a year ago.

The Hamas attack left more than 1,200 dead in Israel, mainly civilians attending a music festival. Since then, Israel’s response, which many observers consider disproportionate, has left nearly 42,000 dead in the Gaza Strip and more than 2,000 dead in Lebanon.

With information from CBC and Agence France-Presse