The Israel-Hamas conflict has resulted in expenditures of nearly $9 million in overtime for the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM), which, over the past year, has had to supervise more than 430 demonstrations in the city. streets of the metropolis, its director, Fady Dagher, said on Friday.
In 2024, the SPVM faces an anticipated deficit of 48.1 million. This is partly attributable to overtime payments to police officers, which resulted in a cost overrun of $52.2 million. This is what Fady Dagher explained during his appearance on Friday before the Finance Commission, which examines the budgets of all City of Montreal services.
The police chief noted that the war in the Middle East had given rise to more than 430 demonstrations and led to 106 arrests in Montreal. Among other things, on October 5, a little less than a year after the Hamas incursion into Israel and the massive military response of the Jewish state, a demonstration required the deployment of 580 Montreal police officers, he said. noted.
The director of the SPVM mentioned a sum of $9 million in overtime worked by police officers deployed in the context of demonstrations, encampments and visibility plans related to this conflict. “Just with the Victoria Square and McGill encampments, we passed through half a million,” he explained. “It’s going up quickly. It’s not because the SPVM wanted to spend, it’s because the SPVM is dependent on impromptu events and, as a result, we must respond. Yes, it costs extra time, and yes, it puts us towards a deficit. »
In 2024, the SPVM’s actual expenditures reached $874.5 million instead of the planned $821 million. For 2025, the police force’s budget has been set at 824.3 million. When submitting the City of Montreal’s 2025 budget 10 days ago, Valérie Plante’s administration indicated that it was counting on the hiring of 225 new resources, promised in 2022, to reduce the use of overtime. She also said she was banking on the increase in revenue from fines to cover the SPVM budget.
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