A night with Eclipse | “The type of crimes has completely changed”

Every day, police officers face the new face of organized crime. The Press accompanied the members of the Eclipse squad for one night last week.

1:30 a.m., in a restaurant-bar on Boulevard De Maisonneuve Ouest, near Peel, in downtown Montreal.

The ten members of the Eclipse squad, specialized in monitoring licensed establishments and gathering intelligence on organized crime, struggle to move between the tables and around the dance floor, the place is so crowded.

“Look, he’s part of such a group. The other one, further on, is in grandparent-type fraud,” a police officer tells us.

In total, the agents will identify at least thirty subjects of interest in and in front of the establishment, where several individuals are gathered, sometimes even members of two groups between which tensions exist.

Murder suspects, individuals accused or suspected of having been involved in violent events, individuals known to possess a firearm, fraudsters of all kinds who spend lavishly on sums stolen from vulnerable people; the Eclipse police officers observe them every day.

nothing like that anymore

“Since the pandemic, the type of crimes has completely changed. Nightlife has changed. The city has changed,” says Sergeant Vincent Moore, a police officer for 18 years, who has been part of Eclipse since 2020.

“Previously, criminal organizations were pyramidal. When we had a problem with an individual, we were able to target the right person to go see to resolve the situation. But since the pandemic, there has been a break with a certain generation of street gangs. They have no hierarchy and are disorganized, so it’s more difficult to listen,” adds his colleague, Sergeant Nicolas Giguère, who has been in the squad for almost 15 years.

This “certain generation”, whose group names have regularly made headlines for armed violence events in Montreal and Laval since 2020, the Eclipse police officers have seen grow up.

“Hotheads”

“Often, these are groups with which we have less good collaboration. When they were shooting everywhere, even the oldest gang members were afraid of them. Even though these young people have aged and become organized, they do not have the same respect for the street code as before. And they definitely don’t have the same respect for the police,” adds Sergeant Giguère.

“Some young people collaborate a little, but the majority I deal with, it’s a gang effect, they feel invincible. »

“The older ones, when we talk to them, they tell us that today’s young people listen to absolutely nothing and that they are all hotheads,” continues his colleague Moore.

According to the police, young people do not care about codes established for a long time, as demonstrated by this war of protection payment – protection racket and extortion against licensed establishments, which has been raging in Montreal for several months and which is believed to be the cause of the fatal fire that occurred in Old Montreal last week.

“Before, arsonists were told: ‘Don’t go there; the restaurant is connected to the mafia.” But now, young people go there anyway, for $300. They don’t even know who they are attacking,” describes an Eclipse police officer.

So much so that restaurateurs and owners, who were previously annoyed by the presence of Eclipse police officers in their establishment, thank them, but subtly, we are told.

“The owner cannot do this in front of certain customers of his establishment. We understand them. They are often between the rocks and the bark,” explains Francis Renaud, commander of the SPVM’s Organized Crime Division, to which the Eclipse squad reports.

Firearms on the menu

Grabbing a gun is no longer a rarity for Eclipse like it was before.

“The range of firearms has exploded in recent years,” laments Vincent Moore. It’s completely crazy. I have never seen that in my 18 years of career at the SPVM. Finding a firearm in a customer’s men’s bag in a licensed establishment is extremely common. »

“I saw a difference when the Supreme Court [rejeté les peines minimales] of three years and five years in the event of a repeat offense, for possession of a firearm. Before this stop, people in the street told us that they did not want to enter the penitentiary for long. But now, individuals are being arrested for firearms, and shortly after, we see them outside again,” says Sergeant Giguère.

$10,000 in alcohol on the table

In several of the establishments that The Press visited with the Eclipse police officers, they showed us tables occupied by individuals who were celebrating; grandparent type fraudsters or others, who do not hesitate to tell the police that they make a lot of money.

“Sometimes, the same group of fraudsters can be seen five evenings online in licensed locations,” indicates Sergeant Giguère.

“Fraud is the crime of the hour,” continues Sergeant Moore. It pays very well, and the penalties are minimal. We see the money they steal every day because they have to burn it, because they can’t declare it. There’s one we meet… Last year, he declared $15,000 to the tax authorities, but in the evenings we see him, it’s not uncommon for him to be sitting around a table on which he there are $10,000 to $15,000 worth of bottles. »

The young generation

Eclipse is not just establishments with a liquor license. It is also, among other things, the monitoring of social networks, to prevent crimes, or even patrolling parks and other known places where the police come across the future faces of this new crime, already forbidding adolescents whom they will investigate. in a few years.

The gang rebellion, which continues in eastern Quebec, is catching up with the members of Eclipse, even in Montreal.

Citizens of Lévis, a suburb of Quebec, who were having dinner in a restaurant on Duke Street expressed their concern to them and told them that they were very happy that they were there.

A balm for these police officers, who constantly face hostility from the individuals they investigate and who will never know how many crimes they were able to prevent.

“The squad is at the forefront of organized crime,” says Commander Francis Renaud. Its members come into contact with criminals every day because they talk to them and are in their lives. They are at the forefront and perceive trends and movements before anyone else. This provides extraordinary information not only in Montreal, but also throughout the province. »

To contact Daniel Renaud, call 514 285-7000, ext. 4918, write to [email protected] or write to the postal address of The Press.