Montreal's alternative to policing most vulnerable gets boost after over 10,000 interventions
CBC
Mélissa loves helping people.
"I think it's within my nature to help people," she said. "I have been doing it since I was young."
CBC has agreed not to use Mélissa's last name as she is part of Montreal's Équipe mobile de médiation et d'intervention sociale (EMMIS) — a team of intervention workers who patrol the city's streets, responding to conflicts or other issues people in precarious living situations may experience.
It started as a pilot project in September 2021 with 12 civilian social workers who formed a "mobile mediation and social response team" that, along with patrolling on their own, can be called to action by Montreal police or community organizations.
The team offers a range of services, such as conflict resolution and referring people to community resources. They may, for example, help defuse a dispute between a merchant and people who are loitering out front.
They strive to de-escalate tense situations rather than relying on police intervention. They work with people struggling with mental illness, addiction or homelessness — establishing a strong presence in areas populated by the city's most vulnerable and helping everybody feel safer.
The intervention team is available 15 hours a day from 9 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. It has been operating in the boroughs of Ville-Marie and Sud-Ouest.
But Montreal officials are now increasing the program's reach to Plateau-Mont-Royal and Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
In less than a year and a half, the service has already carried out more than 10,000 interventions. Its success prompted the city to grant it $2.6 million — doubling its workforce to serve the two new boroughs.
"They do a lot of prevention," said Alain Vaillancourt, head of public security on Montreal's executive committee.
"They make regular rounds in Ville-Marie to visit people on the ground, which will avoid potential conflicts with citizens and businesses as well. Merchants love EMMIS because they are called upon to intervene with itinerant people on commercial streets to avoid problems with customers."
While city officials tout the program as a success, Mélissa gets to follow through with her own life mission.
"I think we all come from different paths of life, and mine brought me to where I am today," she said, while driving around downtown on patrol.
"I know people who have dealt with family issues, with drug issues, homelessness. And I think that I was put on earth to help these people."
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