Citizens and elected officials from Sept-Îles and Port-Cartier feel that the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) is not seen enough in their city.
However, the police ensures that its workforce remains stable over the years. These views will not succeed in silencing critics.
The mayor of Sept-Îles, Steve Beaupré, recently contacted the SQ asking that, as a citizen, the police should intervene with a motorist who consumed cannabis in a place frequented by families.
“I was told there was another urgent situation, there was a shortage of staff, which meant they couldn’t answer my call. I was called to report after a while. Actually, what I wanted was to stop this person from driving his vehicle near a shopping center.
It was finally another police force, La Sécurité publique de Uashat mak Mani-utenam (SPUM), which intervened with the motorist. But for the mayor, the experience points to a lack of police presence in his city.
Some citizen feedback has fueled a steady decline in the number of reports of Highway Safety Code violations in recent years.
Councilor Denise Muse is a member of the MRC’s public safety committee, which works with the SQ. He has already expressed his concern.
“At the SQ, we were told that the numbers provided in the contract between the MRC of Sept-Rivières and the Sûreté du Québec are respected. We have 58 police officers who must always be in the territory. We say that is always respected.
The city of Sept-Îles currently provides almost $4.5 million for the services of the Sûreté du Québec.
In the neighboring city of Port-Cartier, citizens and elected officials have also seen a decrease in the presence of police officers.
SQ declined to answer TVA Nouvelles’ questions on the matter. The police force considers information about its personnel to be of a strategic nature and should not be made public.
